Jasper S, the murderer of Marianne Vaatstra in 1999 – he was charged and convicted for the rape and murder in April 2013 – wanted to write a letter of apology to the family of the murdered girl. The Vaatstra family, through father Bauke Vaatstra, makes it clear that they are not looking forward to that. They want to hear from the perpetrator what he did and why. Father Vaatstra had wanted to look his daughter’s killer in the eye, but the perpetrator did not give him the opportunity to do so. He looked at the ground.
Apology letter from Jasper S
After the pro forma hearing of February 27, 2013, Jasper S. indicated that he wanted to write a letter of apology to Bauke Vaatstra, Marianne’s father. Lawyer Jan Vlug van S. announced this after the hearing in Leeuwarden. He had already started it. He wants to explain what moved him to rape and murder the girl.
Difficult letter
Jan Vlug outlined how difficult it must have been to write that letter, because S. of course did not know where to start. Vlug made it clear that he and his client were looking for the right form in which to formulate the apology. It would be a difficult letter that had to come across as truthful and not look like a lawyer’s trick.
Father Bauke Vaatstra
Father Bauke Vaatstra is not looking for an apology letter. If the letter falls on the mat, he will even get angry. He made this clear after the pro forma hearing and after he learned of S.’s intention.
Chills
Vaatstra barely slept the night before the pro forma hearing and when he saw Jasper S. enter the room, shivers went down his spine. The father would have liked to look the rapist and murderer of his child in the eye, but S. did not give him the opportunity to do so. He kept looking at the ground and made no contact.
No excuses
At the end of March 2013, a week before the start of the substantive hearing in the Vaatstra case, Jan Vlug announced that his client had decided not to write a letter of apology to the family. As long as Bauke Vaatstra responded negatively to an apology, S. will not start the letter.
No beginning and no end
For Vaatstra there was no beginning and no end to the letter from his daughter’s murderer. There is no excuse for what he has done and Vaatstra has no need for a letter from the man. He did want to hear from his own mouth what he did and why. He heard it from the police at the appropriate time, but he also wanted to hear it from the perpetrator’s mouth.
Marianne Vaatstra
Marianne Vaatstra was murdered on May 1, 1999, after first being raped. She was found in a meadow near Veenklooster. S. allegedly forced her into the meadow with a knife in his hand, he admitted. The court case where the substance of the case was heard was on March 28, 2013, with a delay to March 29.
Bauke Vaatstra was concerned about the sentence that would ultimately be imposed. He hoped that S. would get a life sentence. If the sentence becomes 18 years, there is a good chance that S. will be free again in about 12 years. Vaatstra didn’t have to think about that.
Indictment
- was charged, among other things, with murder. Vlug charged with manslaughter. Murder is charged more heavily than manslaughter. S. walked around for almost 14 years knowing that he killed the girl, without saying anything to anyone. After a DNA test, he was exposed in a DNA relationship study.
read more
- Marianne Vaatstra – Arrest of the murderer
- Marianne Vaatstra – Jasper’s confession after DNA research
- Marianne Vaatstra – DNA relationship research
- Marianne Vaatstra – The pocket knife by Jasper S
- Marianne Vaatstra – Jasper S. and the lawsuit