Day 3 in the Nicky Verstappen trial against Jos Brech brought forward some interesting details but not the breakthrough to solidify this case.
We heard from a forensic expert, we got details about the psychiatric observations at the Pieter Baan Centrum where Brech has been for evaluation, and we got a more detailed look at the crime scenes.
When asked, Brech summarily added a detail here or there but as before, didn’t really elaborate on anything.
Brech remained at the Pieter Baan Centrum for two months in 2019 however, he didn’t do any tests. He spoke to people and interacted with the other patients but he never gave any insight into his mental state of mind. He was kind, polite, and socialized with others, but firmly held on to his right to remain silent.
When he spoke it centered on nature, cultures, and philosophy. He didn’t wanted to discuss his sexuality or orientation.
He clearly has pedophilic traits but was never charged despite the fact that there were a few cases reported where Brech was indecent with very young children. According to a psychiatrist, Brech had these pedophilic tendencies from an early age. Knowing they were socially not acceptable, he withdrew and sought solace in outdoors activities.
There is no evidence that Brech suffers from a neurological disorder, he does have social skills, and he is an introvert. He is not violent or aggressive. For years, he took it upon himself to care for his elderly mother. As for treatment, the psychiatrist indicated any success of treatment requires Brech to open up and talk. Brech has indicated that he won’t speak.
In court, a presentation was shown to map the scene. Authorities reconstructed the summer camp, the tent Nicky used, and indicated where he was found, how close to the road camp was, where Brech said he was standing when he needed to urinate and claimed that he saw something (and upon walking towards it saw it was a boy), etc.
Aerial photography indicated the camp, the woods, the cornfields, and the location where Nicky was found. It made several things clear: distance and vision.
The camp’s restrooms were about 105 meters from Nicky’s tent. Nicky’s body was found behind shrubbery surrounding the Christmas tree area. If Brech really stood where he said that he was when he saw this ‘something’ that attracted his attention, or heard something, he did from the distance of approx. 70 meters. If he saw something, he saw that ‘something’ on the ground in the shrubbery despite being separated from it by a knee-high cornfield.
Last, a forensic expert again indicated that there is no definitive answer as to sexual assault. He examined Nicky from photography. As noted in the post about the second day of trial, the anal widening was caused by assault or whether it was the consequence of livor mortis with the muscles relaxing leading to a widening. If I understood correctly, there was no other anal trauma characteristic of sexual assault.
Note that we still do not have a match to identify the semen found on a tissue near the crime scene. It need not be related to Nicky’s death at all.
The next trial dates are October 7, 8, 12, and 16. On October 7, we will hear from other experts at the Pieter Baan Center and the afternoon is for victim impact statements from the Verstappen Family. On Thursday, the prosecution will formally declare the sentence that they seek for Brech if he is found guilty on the charge of abduction, sexual assault, manslaughter, and possession of child pornography. If anything changes, I will post it here. All my posts about Nicky Verstappen are here.