WILLEMSTAD - Roberto H., a 57-year-old Curaçaoan, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Reagan Perez. Due to the severity of the situation, his previous criminal behavior, and the necessity to protect society from the high risk of reoffending, the judge has imposed a life sentence. This was the ruling from the court in Den Bosch.
The judge determined that H. had "brutally" killed Perez, who was also from Curaçao, in 2019 in Kerkrade. He stabbed her in broad daylight in the presence of others.
The court classified this as "femicide," as H. could not accept that the 42-year-old woman had ended their relationship. He attacked her with a kitchen knife in her garden and then slit her throat on the sidewalk. Many people witnessed the incident. The judge concluded that H. acted with premeditation, categorizing it as murder rather than manslaughter.
In addition to his life sentence, H. is required to pay the bereaved a compensation of €45,000. Earlier, the court in Maastricht had sentenced him to twenty years in prison and compulsory treatment.
The Netherlands is the only European country where a life sentence is actually life imprisonment.