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Autism theory remains in doubt

3 July 2003

AMSTERDAM — Psychiatry experts called to give evidence at the Amsterdam Appeals Court contradicted each other when asked on Thursday whether the convicted killer of maverick politician Pim Fortuyn has a subtle form of autism.

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The court requested expert witness testimony earlier this week in an attempt to determine whether Volkert van der Graaf, 33, has a condition known as Asperger Syndrome. Van der Graaf was sentenced on 15 April to 18 years jail for killing Fortuyn, but both the prosecution and the defence submitted appeals against the sentence.

If it is proven that Van der Graaf has Asperger, he could be sentenced to an unlimited period of detention in a secure hospital on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Youth psychiatrist Menno Oosterhoff said Asperger is so subtle that psychologists at the Pieter Baan Centrum (PBC) missed symptoms and wrongly diagnosed him. He believes Van der Graaf has Asperger Syndrome and should be re-examined. The PBC examined Van der Graaf after he was arrest on 6 May 2002, the day that he killed Fortuyn.

Oosterhoff, a psychiatrist attached to the the Academic Centre for Child and Youth Psychology in Groningen, came to his conclusion based on media reports about the killer and the public prosecutor's closing speech in the Amsterdam trial.

He said Asperger patients have a disorder in the true meaning of the word, giving as example several statements from Van der Graaf in which he admitted he had not yet given enough thought to the consequences of his act and the fact that he had not expressed regret for the murder.

But in contradictory testimony, PBC psychologist Jacob Oudejans said Van der Graaf did not have Asperger and that the Utrecht-observation clinic had taken into consideration the possibility that he might have autism when it conduction its examination. He said it became quickly apparent that Van der Graaf did not have autism.

The Amsterdam-Osdorp court has directed criticism at the PBC report, which stated Van der Graaf had a personality disorder, but ruled out the possibility it played any role in the murder of the anti-immigrant Fortuyn.

Fortuyn founded the populist LPF party before he was shot and killed in the lead up to the 15 May 2002 national election.

Oudejans said Van der Graaf had made a "political assessment of the danger of Pim Fortuyn" before carrying out the murder.

Meanwhile, the court requested the prosecution call a second psychiatric expert to the witness stand.

Forensic psychologist Corine de Ruiter was sworn in and agreed with Oosterhoff. Both of them said they could not understand why the PBC came to the conclusion that Van der Graaf's disorder had not played a role in the murder of Fortuyn.

Van der Graaf, of Harderwijk, claimed on Tuesday he would never kill again and defence lawyer Stijn Franken also said on the first day of the appeal that 18 years jail was too harsh, reminding the court that no one without a prior conviction had received such a stiff penalty on conviction of a single murder.

The prosecution is expected to again demand a life sentence be imposed on Van der Graaf. It maintains its claim that the killer attempted to seriously frustrate the democratic process by murdering Fortuyn and asserts the court failed to take into account the lack of remorse expressed by Van der Graaf.

The Amsterdam appeals court is due to make its ruling on 18 July.

[Copyright Expatica News 2003]