The man suspected of murdering former health minister Els Borst vanished from a psychiatric clinic in Belgium shortly before the killing, the AD says on Wednesday.

Bart van U was picked up in October 2013 close to the Israeli embassy in Brussels.

He was in a confused state and apparently planning to deliver a letter to the embassy outlining several conspiracy theories but was not allowed in, news agency ANP says. He was also carrying a knife.

Van U was then taken to the clinic but left at the end of November, a week before he was due to be released. The clinic did not report this to the police and have declined to comment on the reasoning, citing privacy issues, the AD says.

Borst was found dead in the garage attached to her Bilthoven home in February last year.

Van U came to the attention of Dutch police after his sister was murdered last month and has since been charged with her killing. His dna was found to match evidence left at the scene of Borst’s murder, marking a breakthrough in that investigation.

The Dutch public prosecution department has already said it is investigating all the circumstances surrounding Van U’s various brushes with the police. In 2011, he was arrested for the illegal possession of a weapon.