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Former minister’s killer detained in secure psychiatric unit

April 13, 2016
Statue of justice.
Photo: Depositphotos.com

The man who killed former health minister Els Borst because of her support for euthanasia and later murdered his own sister has been detained indefinitely in a psychiatric institution.

Judges in Rotterdam ruled Bart van U was not accountable for his actions and should be detained in a secure institution rather than prison. The public prosecution department had called for an eight-year jail term, to be followed by psychiatric care.

Van U had admitted killing both women. Borst was found stabbed 41 times in her home in February 2014. His sister was stabbed to death in January 2015.

Van U was caught by police only after the second murder in January 2015, when DNA tests led to him.

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