The 32-year-old, known only as "Daniela D.," was allegedly working as a prostitute in December 2022 when he attacked Danny Roth, a client, two days before Christmas, stabbing his eyes, ears and genitalia.
The events leading up to the murder remain unclear. While Daniela gave his version of events, forensics experts have refuted the claims to be true.
Daniela reported: “Danny took a hallucinogenic pill, a coffee-colored capsule. He dragged me by the hair to the kitchen. He threw a knife at me and I deflected it with my hand. He shouted ‘fu*king whore’ and proceeded to punch me in the face and it really hurt. I have silicone all over my body and it was causing injuries."
He said that it was only after Roth dropped the knife that he picked it up and began stabbing him.
Blood spatter analysis determined, however, that the blood patterns at the scene did not align with this account. It was determined that the blood would have been mostly on the ground and not “in an upward direction all around" as one forensic expert testified.
Contrary to the claims that Roth was on hallucinogens, an autopsy showed there were none in his system, albeit finding traces of cocaine and alcohol.
A recorded phone call captured the trans-identified male confessing to a friend that he "stabbed both eyes, so that he cannot recognize me when the police show him a photo. I stabbed his ears, so that he cannot hear questions from the police ... And I broke the bottle on his head."
A coroner found that Roth's penis was stabbed with the knife after he was already deceased as well.
"I didn’t want to stop hitting him,” Daniela proclaimed in the call.
Prosecutors highlighted the amount of lacerations on the victim's body and the locations of them, pointing to a crime of passion and anger.
“The stabbing was deliberate and targeted. That is not fear, but anger and revenge. It is not self-defense but an attack," they said.
Roth's body was found three days after the murder, on December 26th, by a concerned friend who stopped by to check on him after he did not show up to appointments or speak to his family over the holiday.
He was reportedly on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood.
The court heard that Daniela, a sex worker residing in the Netherlands illegally since February 2022, had been "bullied" as a child over his "gender identity."
Daniela still has full male genitalia, yet is being kept in a women's prison until his final verdict is announced December 5.
The prosecution is seeking a sentence of 14 years in prison. If he is convicted, it is anticipated that he will remain in a women's prison.
A journalist for 'Brabants Dagblad,' Sybilla Claus, called this decision "unacceptable."
“Is it safe for one violent perpetrator, who is biologically male, to disrupt the lives of hundreds of incarcerated women for up to 14 years? The director of the largest women’s prison, Ter Peel, between Venlo and Helmond, thinks it’s fine. He had the extremely violent Chilean suspect, with male genitalia, placed there among the 226 women,” Claus wrote.
“They have the right to their own protection, privacy and dignity… Research shows that a large proportion of imprisoned women have been victims of physical and/or sexual violence as children and afterwards, and end up in an abusive relationship.”
She reported that the "few female criminals in the Netherlands" typically commit very light crimes and argued they should not be subjected to this type of treatment.
The victim's sister spoke out in court to "Daniela": “I hope your hand still hurts every day. When you go to sleep, I hope you see his face. You had an overwhelming anger, from the top of your head to your toes. So bad that the most gruesome horror film is nothing like it."
