Man sentenced to 10 years for 2017 killing of Tilburg woman

Court gavel with a statue of Lady Justice in the background - Credit: - License: DepositPhotos Crime Friday, 9 October 2026 - 21:10

The court in Breda has sentenced Werner de R., 44, from Tilburg to 10 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of 58-year-old Hennie de Laat in Tilburg in 2017. The victim’s body was found on December 23 of that year by the Hoogvensestraat in Tilburg. She was stabbed in the chest, and her throat had been slit.

The court convicted De R. of manslaughter rather than murder. The judges said it could be established that he intentionally killed De Laat, but there was insufficient evidence that he had planned the killing in advance.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended 12 years in prison against De R. in December. The court’s verdict was lower due to the fact that the case has been ongoing for a lengthy period of time.

De R. and the victim reportedly had a conflict around drugs. Prosecutors said De R. had built up a debt with De Laat over cocaine he had bought from her. He denies having murdered the woman. De R. knew De Laat well and regarded her as a kind of stepmother, according to the court.

De R. was a family friend and was the last person known to have seen De Laat alive, Omroep Brabant reported. He was arrested shortly after the killing but was released about two weeks later because investigators initially lacked sufficient evidence to keep him in custody. Prosecutors later said additional evidence, including DNA findings, gave them sufficient grounds to bring the case to court.

The court described De Laat's death as “a terrible and violent death.” She suffered nine stab wounds, five of them deep, with one wound piercing her heart. Her throat was also cut.

The court said the victim and De R. were involved in a struggle shortly before her death. She reportedly resisted “fiercely,” leaving De R.'s DNA beneath her fingernails. The court also noted that De R. could not provide an alibi for the time of the incident and behaved strangely later that night.

The court was actually going to give its verdict in January, but it postponed this after receiving an additional report about DNA sampling from the victim's fingernails. An earlier 2021 report said DNA had been taken only from beneath the nails, while the newer report said samples had also been taken from the nail edges. The court wanted the DNA expert to clarify the discrepancy.

De R. was not present when the verdict was delivered. He plans to appeal the conviction and therefore does not have to begin serving the sentence immediately.

Reporting by ANP and NL Times