The suspect in the fivefold stabbing in the center of Amsterdam in March appears to have planned his act. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) states this based on notes on the phone of Roman D., who is silent about his motive.
The thirty-year-old D. was not present at the first preliminary hearing on Wednesday. The Ukrainian is suspected of stabbing five people in late March in the area of Dam Square in the center of Amsterdam. An elderly couple from the United States, a 73-year-old woman from Belgium, a 26-year-old man from Poland, and a 19-year-old woman from Amsterdam were injured.
The Belgian victim is still in a rehabilitation center. She has no feeling in her legs due to a partial paraplegia, her lawyer Arlette Schijns said during the hearing.
Schijns also represents three other victims. They also have injuries, including psychological ones. “It will take a long time before they recover,” Schijns said. The lawyer for the Dutch victim did not comment.
All victims were stabbed in their upper bodies, at the level of the lungs. In two women, the knives remained in the body. “Everyone can be glad that they got away alive. And for several of them, it remains to be seen what the long-term damage will be,” the public prosecutor said.
Notes suggest a plan of action according to the Public Prosecution Service
The suspect had searched on his phone for which knife he needed to “pierce lungs,” the Public Prosecution Service (OM) reports on Wednesday. In addition, the police found notes on the phone “that suggest a plan of action.”
For example, the suspect writes that he is looking for a place where many people walk. According to the OM, the notes also state that the suspect wanted to stab elderly people with a knife and then run away.
According to the police investigation, D. arrived at Amsterdam Central Station on Wednesday, March 26. He then allegedly went to a hotel on the Damrak. He allegedly bought two knives in a knife shop the following morning.
The stabbing was later that afternoon. The incident was recorded with camera images from the moment the suspect left his hotel at 3:14 PM.
The suspect was arrested almost immediately after the stabbing by a British tourist near Dam Square. The suspect suffered a twofold complicated leg fracture. He gave his leg fracture as a reason for not appearing at the first hearing on Wednesday.
Public Prosecution Service considers terrorist motive
According to the OM, the “plan of action” can be understood in various ways. The suspect could have been frustrated, but “other, more calculated motives” are also possible.
The OM is considering a terrorist motive because of the planning, the knives that were bought in advance, the quick and targeted execution, the choice of location and time. “Apparently, the goal was to incite fear in the Amsterdam, perhaps the Dutch population,” the OM writes. The suspect himself is silent about his motives.
It was also unclear for a long time where the man came from. He had several false documents with him and did not cooperate during interrogations. It is now known that D. comes from a place near Mariupol in the Donetsk region. He served in the Ukrainian army from 2015. The area where he comes from was occupied by Russia in 2022.
The police investigation shows that the suspect applied for leave from the army in this year to visit his mother in the Czech Republic. He traveled to Germany via Poland on March 4. He was in a reception location for Ukrainian refugees in Berlin before coming to Amsterdam.
The OM suspects D. of five counts of attempted murder or manslaughter with a terrorist motive, or aggravated assault. His lawyer says that the suspect suffered brain damage in the Ukrainian army. The man still needs to be examined psychologically and psychiatrically. The next pro forma hearing is on August 26 at 1:30 PM.