In association with
Omroep Gelderland
NOS News•today, 4:51 PM
A 56-year-old woman from Elst has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the murder of her husband. The woman beat her husband (57) to death with an ax and hid his body in the crawl space of their home.
The man’s body was eventually discovered eight months later following a police search of the home. The man had been reported missing for months. The couple’s neighbors also had to deal with a fly plague and odor nuisance. All the while, the woman continued with her life, telling neighbors and relatives that the man had left her.
The court concludes that the woman killed her husband with a premeditated plan. She bought the ax a week before the murder and ended up beating him to death in bed.
Horror movie
“The suspect’s decision to hide the man’s body in the crawl space evokes associations with a horror movie,” the public prosecutor said two weeks ago.
The woman stated that she killed her husband in self-defense. She said she wanted to divorce him and was allegedly raped by him several times.
The judges do not believe her, partly because the woman changed her statements on several points over the months. The woman also gave different explanations about the forced sex. “There is no evidence of aggression from her husband in the file,” the judge said.
Higher punishment
The sentence is higher than the Public Prosecution Service’s requirement of 14 years in prison. The court “very much blames” the woman for lying to the surviving relatives. “She knew all along where the man was, that he was no longer alive and that she was responsible for his death. She deprived the surviving relatives of the opportunity for a dignified farewell,” the court said.
The woman will be placed under supervision after serving her sentence.
