The Public Prosecutor in Assen has demanded a nine year prison sentence against Michael N., the 20-year-old Zimbabwean who is suspected of killing Leonore Prothmann (20), his flatmate and fellow international student at NHL Stenden in Emmen.
According to the prosecutor, on September 3rd 2018, Michael N. suffocated Prothmann with a pillow and stabbed her with a knife. A pathologist from the Dutch Forensic Institute concluded that the actual cause of death might have been a heart disorder brought on by the physical stress of being assaulted.
After the attack, Michael N. called the emergency number 112 and confessed that he had killed a friend. Police found Leonore Prothmann next to her bed with a stab wound to her neck and tried to resuscitate the victim, but their efforts were to no avail.
Michael N. is not being prosecuted for murder because it is believed that he acted on impulse, RTV Drenthe reports. N. claims he wanted to make Leonore stop screaming, but had no intention of killing her. However, because he could have changed his mind in the process, the prosecutor says that a manslaughter conviction is called for.
The accused attended the first hearing of his court case in a wheelchair. N. collapsed and became unwell before the initial first trial day on the 14th of June. The case was then postponed until this Thursday.
