Man gets 6 years, indefinite psychiatric treatment for killing ex-partner in Gorinchem
A Rotterdam court on Thursday sentenced 28-year-old Shane L. to six years in prison and indefinite compulsory psychiatric treatment for fatally stabbing his former partner, Lisa, in her home in Gorinchem in January 2024.
The District Court of Rotterdam ruled that the man killed his ex-partner during a psychotic episode after going uninvited to her home on the morning of Jan. 23, 2024. He stabbed her four times, including deep wounds to the chest where vital organs are located.
The court acquitted him of murder, finding no evidence of premeditation, but convicted him of manslaughter. The sentence matched the prosecutor’s request. Judges cited the suspect’s resistance to medication and repeated periods of stopping treatment as evidence of a high risk of reoffending.
Police forced their way into the Gorinchem apartment with a battering ram in the early evening after Lisa’s mother and sister reported they had been unable to reach her for some time. Officers found her motionless on the living room couch with multiple stab wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect, who was also injured, was resuscitated and taken to a hospital, where he was arrested a day later.
The court rejected the defense argument that it could not be established what happened or that someone else was responsible. Judges said only the suspect and the victim were present in the apartment, while neighbors living below reported hearing loud and painful screaming during the period experts say Lisa died.
A forensic pathologist concluded the cutting injuries were “far more likely” to have been inflicted by another person than self-inflicted.
Lisa and the suspect had been in a relationship for about two years, which began while both were admitted to a psychiatric institution. According to someone close to the victim, the relationship deteriorated in December 2023.
The court found that the suspect had stopped taking his medication and that Lisa’s mother forced him to leave the apartment after he refused to go when Lisa asked. Lisa ended the relationship several days before she was killed.
Experts from the Pieter Baan Centrum described the man as severely mentally ill, suffering recurrent delusions and hallucinations since age 18. In 2019, he first came into contact with the justice system after attempting to strangle a former girlfriend during a psychosis.
In its ruling, the court emphasized the lasting impact of the killing, noting that Lisa “had her whole life ahead of her,” had made a fresh start after difficult years, and was looking to the future with optimism. Her death caused “indescribable grief and suffering” for her relatives, whom the court described as closely involved in her life.
