Sietske Hoekstra
| Sietske Hoekstra | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1985 (age 38–39) Nij Beets, Netherlands |
| 💼 Occupation | |
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Sietske Hoekstra (born 1985) is a Dutch woman who killed four of her newborn children in Nij Beets between 2003 and 2009, stuffing the bodies in suitcases and garbage bags stored in her family home's attic. She was initially found guilty of three counts of murder and one of manslaughter, receiving a 12-year imprisonment sentence,[1] which was later reduced to 3 years and provisional parole, in addition to attending psychiatric therapy on a regular basis.[2]
Early life[edit]
Hoesktra was born in 1985 in the small village of Nij Beets, where she grew up in an average household with a younger sister. At the age of 17, she had a relationship with a boy of her age, from she became pregnant for the first time. The couple broke up on several occasions, before the boy abandoned her and settled with another girl. Following their final break-up, Sietske gained a reputation for engaging in one-night stands with the local young men.[3]
She never moved out of her parents' home in Nij Beets, where, at the time, her father operated a bakery and her mother worked as a home health nurse. In 2006, she became an intern at a local dental office, whose proprietor would eventually disclose her crimes to the authorities.[3]
Discovery of crimes[edit]
Ever since the first time she applied for a job as a dental assistant, Hoekstra's employer, Dr. Gerrit Ike, noticed that she was pregnant, but when he tried to talk to her about it, Sietske denied it. With her refusal, Ike let the topic go, and over the following years, Hoekstra became pregnant again on two more occasions, but the fate of her children remained mysterious.[3] When queried about her pregnancies, she claimed to be a surrogate mother and had given the babes up for adoption, which was believed by her coworkers. However, when authorities later interviewed some of the patients at the dental office, they claimed that when they had tried to congratulate her about her upcoming child, she scoffed at them and claimed that she had just gained weight. It was also reported by neighbors that she often wore loose clothes to hide her belly.[3]
Eventually, Ike became suspicious of Hoekstra, and submitted a tip to authorities to look into the situation in March 2009. The lead wasn't acted on until four months later, when an officer decided to question her. Hoekstra was brought in for questioning, and like previous situations, she claimed to have given the babies up for adoption, promising to show the officers the papers after she had returned from a vacation.[3] When she came back, but failed to produce any such papers, she was arrested and interrogated again. During that, she confessed that she had killed the children and stuffed their bodies in suitcases, which were stored in the attic of her parents' home.[3]
The house was searched through, with the authorities finding the three corpses, in addition to another, which dated back from 2003. The news of the discovery shocked the population of the small village, prompting her family to move away, as they refused to live in the place they dubbed the "house of horrors".[3]
Trial and imprisonment[edit]
Hoekstra was quickly put on trial for the murders. In her testimony, she admitted to giving birth to the children at home, either while on her knees or squatting, and one occasion, she managed to do it next to her sleeping sister without waking her up. Once she saw the newborns, Sietske panicked, as she feared people would realise she was pregnant, proceeding to suffocate the children before stuffing the bodies in the suitcases or garbage bags.[4] Doubts regarding her sanity were raised, and so, she was sent for a psychiatric exam at the Pieter Baan Centre in Almere, but since she refused to cooperate with the doctors, fearing the possibility of being sent to a psychiatric ward, they were unsuccessful in determining whether she was sane or not.[5] Hoekstra was brought back to the court in Leeuwarden to stand trial, where she was found guilty of three murders and one manslaughter. She was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and mandatory psychiatric councelling, and sent off to the Zwolle Prison.[1] A year after her conviction, her sentence was reduced to 3 years imprisonment after she allowed herself to be treated at the Pieter Baan Centre, where it was determined that she was mentally unstable due to a congenital brain defect.[2] After completing her sentence, she was released, but is still required regular psychiatric evaluations.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sietske H. still afraid of TBS" (in Dutch). FOK!. June 23, 2011.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "3 years of prison and TBS for Sietske H." (in Dutch). Hart Van Nederland. October 12, 2012.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Cedric Lagast (August 8, 2010). "Dental assistant Sietske Hoekstra confesses three murders: 'They were alive. I killed my babies.'" (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ "Sietske H. gave birth to her 4 babies at home" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. April 19, 2011.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ Michael van der Galien (November 17, 2011). "OM demands answers from Sietske Hoekstra" (in Dutch). De Dagelijkse Standaard.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
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