An intense, obsessive infatuation that was not reciprocated led John S. (40) to commit a massacre at Tro Tardi care farm in Alblasserdam. The victims were completely random, further investigation revealed: "A painful finding."
Prosecutors are demanding 30 years and tbs with mandatory treatment in the appeal against the man. "This is a very serious crime complex that we fortunately rarely see in the Netherlands. We have felt the deep, sharp pain and despair of the victims."
On May 6, 2022, John S. shot and severely wounded 34-year-old employee Nathalie from Alblasserdam and client Ann-Sofie (16) from Dordrecht. Two days earlier he had killed shoemaker Johan Quist (60) from Vlissingen. The court sentenced S. to life in prison last year, but both the Oud-Alblas resident and the prosecution appealed.
Justice had also demanded 30 years in prison and tbs with mandatory treatment last year. That is still the stakes, not only for retribution, but also to prevent S. from ever being released. "Healing is not possible in the case of the defendant, whether he gets tbs today or after 28 years, according to experts."
Last week Tuesday tears flowed in the extra secure courtroom in Rotterdam, where the appeal will be heard. The surviving victims, eyewitnesses and relatives indicated that they could no longer actually live through without it being a major struggle. Some even considered suicide.
Also, what exactly happened on May 6, 2022?
No hesitation, faltering or moment of doubt. John S., gun in his right hand, steps confidently into the yard of care farm Tro Tardi in Alblasserdam. He sees his first two victims standing near the horse trough after the entrance on the right. Nathalie (34) he shoots through the head at close range. She dies instantly. Seemingly carelessly, he also shoots Fleur (20), who just survives. Then he walks on.
From the horse trough, John S., who two days earlier murdered shoemaker Johan Quist in Flushing, walks on May 6 toward the little luxury building of Tro Tardi. There Ann-Sofie (16) and Roan (then 12) are sitting in the canteen, a room with red-and-white checkered curtains. Ann-Sofie is there because she wanted to go to the care farm rather than the zoo, which her mother had suggested.
When the two hear bangs, they think geese are being shot at. Ann-Sofie runs out into the hallway, where riding boots are standing. She immediately comes face to face with the gunman. He does not hesitate and shoots her in the head as well. She dies instantly. The suspect runs into the dining room and also fels Roan with a bullet, an assassination attempt from which he barely survives, but from which he makes a miraculous physical recovery.
Then S. walks back, past Ann-Sofie's body, back to the exit. He walks down the yard on his dead end, goes to the grass with his pistol, a Glock, for a moment more, possibly to let the casing of the bullet fall out.
Twenty minutes later he emails the results to RTL: "Tro Tardi six kills," although he was mistaken about the number of victims. Barely five minutes later, S. calls 112, from a park in Alblasserdam. He tells at which address he killed the cobbler and that he also shot people at Tro Tardi.
What drove John S. to shoot innocent people?
John S.'s first visit to the care farm was probably on March 30, 2015. He seems to like it there; he gets to train with the horses there. S. also seems to be getting better there: he is getting stronger physically and psychologically, one of the reports states. His resilience has increased enormously, no complaints of a depressive nature. S.'s father confirms that things went well the first period.
Although there were some clashes. For example, he was sometimes angry with the management of the care farm. He sometimes felt treated like "a moron and unappreciated. 'He was bored.'
During part of that period, Kirsten was also a client on the care farm. Kirsten was 15 years old, S. was 34 years old. Kirsten said of this: ,,Something arose, so to speak. I didn't dare tell my parents. We actually had a relationship then. I actually didn't like it anymore but I didn't dare tell him. Was afraid he was going to talk me out of it again."
It was a relationship that, according to her mother, was far from equal. There was talk of "being taken in by an utter madman, a psychopath. When Kirsten, with the help of her mother and others, broke off contact with S., he stalked her.
The owner of care farm Tro Tardi tried to make arrangements about keeping S. still at Tro Tardi. But his behavior became "harder and harder to deal with. "He closed himself off more and more and at one point he was sent away."
In love
"I was head over heels in love with Kirsten five years ago. That stopped," John S. told himself about this in an interrogation. Before that, he blamed the owner of the care farm and Kirsten's mother. In the time that followed John lost weight, felt terribly bad and continued to deteriorate mentally. This is also confirmed by his father. "He fell into a deep pit, the deepest so far," he says.
John comes under treatment from care organization Yulius from September 2017 to March 2018. This ends because S. stopped contacting and responding to calls. He reportedly found work and volunteered with the Red Cross. Things went better. For a while.
Until 2020. Then he had suicidal thoughts again, felt anger, was aggressive and did not know what to do with himself. He started having problems at work. And again did not respond to requests for contact from social workers.
Revenge
April 2022: John S. is apparently in love with a girl other than Kirsten. He asks her to go steady, but she doesn't want to. He gets angry at that. "He didn't understand that I didn't want a relationship with him," she said of it. S. then says he had revenge and murder plans. Against, among others, a fellow client at another care farm. He bought a gun and said he wanted to "shoot people and then myself.
Very likely influenced by the problems at his job, the rejection of the girl and the ongoing problems with caregiving, tensions run high. Until there is an event that causes his thoughts to return specifically to Kirsten. "When he opened a drawer in his home, John saw contents that reminded him of her. He made contact, but that failed," the accuser says. As a result, things allegedly escalated further. S. states: "I had the firearm and tried to make contact with her with it."
Appointment via dating app
The following day, he went to the cobbler in Flushing after meeting him through a dating app. S. had sex with him, then shot him in the head, after which he put a bill on him and sent photos of that scene to Kirsten.
After that murder, he went to the hotel in Papendrecht. Where he spent the night. Then wrote an email to RTL to make his plan known. S. insists that he initially wanted to commit suicide at Tro Tardi's, but the prosecution does not believe that. "The defendant's actions have the outward appearance of taking long-held revenge."
The prosecution believes that John S. crawls too easily and too much into a victim role. "We also find it difficult that the defendant is incapable of expressing any sympathy or remorse whatsoever."
This, combined with S.'s "serious mental disorders," also makes the need for long-term protection of society greater, according to the prosecutor. "Protection of society is a hundred percent priority for us, especially in this case."
Lock up and throw away the key
S.'s lawyer says imposing a life sentence would "amount to locking S. up and throwing away the key. With no prospect of release," his lawyer said. "Moreover, a sociotherapy environment is needed, to prevent risk of repetition of the violence (within prison walls, ed.)."
His lawyer wants S. to receive a reduced prison sentence combined with tbs. That treatment should then start earlier and not only at the end of the sentence.
John S. himself made an emotional plea at the end for prompt treatment: ''I'm just asking for help. I don't want the swelling in my head, I just want the treatment I need. What good is treatment after 30 years, you might as well shoot me right away!"
The court will rule on Dec. 17 at 1 p.m.
