MAASTRICHT/HEERLIJN - The 38-year-old Peter T. from Heerlen, suspected of multiple rapes, must undergo a psychological examination before he will be tried. The court in Maastricht decided that yesterday afternoon after a hearing in which two very emotional women gave incriminating testimonies against the Limburger, who has been convicted of rape before.T. is suspected of having raped a then 26-year-old acquaintance from Heerlen for hours on Feb. 17, 2000, in her studio in the city center after a night out. Furthermore, a now 34-year-old woman from Landgraaf has testified that T. systematically raped her during the relationship she had with him for six months in 1998. A Belgian extradition request is also pending against T. because Justice suspects him there of an attempted murder of a 26-year-old woman in Heukelom near Riemst.

This Maasmechelen woman was found severely beaten and half undressed next to a country road near the hamlet in October after a night out. The Maastricht court will decide on the extradition request in two weeks. Precisely because T. was previously sentenced to two years in prison for a rape he committed in the Maastricht area in 2000, Judge P. Dahmen said it is important to hear from experts whether the suspect is suffering from a pathological mental disorder. T. and his lawyer P. Szymkowiak do not see the point of a psychilogical examination because the man would be completely innocent. T. maintains that he had normal sexual relations with both Limburg women.

The woman who says she was raped by him in Heerlen thinks very differently. She told crying during the hearing how T. declared his love for her after several nights out, but she could not reciprocate these feelings because she did not yet know him well enough to start a relationship. When she explained this at her home, the man allegedly "turned into an animal.