MAASTRICHT - A 56-year-old Kerkraden man suspected of murdering his girlfriend committed suicide in his cell at the Roermond Detention Center last Wednesday night. The man hanged himself. Spokesman René Vegter of the Roermond Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed that the man took his own life in his cell. How this could have happened is not clear. Justice has a duty of care for detainees, says ministry spokesman Hans Janssen: "There is extra attention for people with psychological problems." Whether that was true in this particular case, he cannot say: "I am only allowed to provide general information. "According to his counsel Peer Szymkowiak, the Kerkraden man was struggling with psychological problems. Last July, the man killed his 55-year-old girlfriend with dozens of stabs in her home in Eygelshoven. He then also stabbed himself sixteen times in the abdomen. It was still under investigation whether Martin B.'s use of a combination of antidepressants and heavy sedatives may have led him to this explosion of violence. A further pro forma hearing was scheduled for Sept. 24 at the court in Maastricht.

Szymkowiak: "My client - who also received anti-depressants in prison - was very disappointed by the new psychiatrist who had visited him. The latter had said he found it unlikely that this explosion of violence could have been caused by 'those pills'."

According to spokesman Janssens, a suicide in the cell is standard Health Care, which then investigates whether negligence may have occurred.