Chapter 18 — In the Court

On October 6th, 2020, finally the first hearing in the case of multiple murder with particular cruelty against Laurens Vermeulen aka Mad Dog took place. Leo and Esther arrived at the courthouse about fifteen minutes before the trial began. Less than five minutes later, Alair Taylor, Laurens Vermeulen's public defender, arrived at the door of the courtroom where the hearing was to be held.

"Hello." he said to both of them, with a smile on his face that seemed sincere. "My name is Alair Taylor, I am the public defender attorney of Mr. Laurens Vermeulen." the man introduced himself. "You are, I suppose, the detectives who dealt with his case, aren't you?" he asked at the end.

"Yes, that's right." Leo answered first, with a serious expression on his face. "I'm Leopold Evans, Detective Inspector for the Criminal Investigation Department of the South Wales Police in Cardiff. And this is Detective Esther Moore, my partner." he introduced them one by one, and when pointed to Esther, she merely nodded her head slightly as a confirmation.

"It's very nice to finally meet you in person. I've heard a lot about the two of you." Alair spoke up. "How the people call you?" he scratched his head, pondering for a moment. "Ah, right! The 'Amazing Duo', that's how they call you two." the man said at last, snapping his fingers, apparently pleased to remember this.

"Yes, that's what they call us." Esther confirmed. "What are you getting at, Mr. Taylor? What is the purpose of our conversation?" she asked after a moment, clearly annoyed by his cheerful attitude, too cheerful for the circumstances in which they met.

"Why so serious, detective Moore?" Alair asked with an expression on his face as if he really didn't understand her reaction. "I just wanted to get to know both of you better, and I don't know if I'll have a better opportunity, that's all." he explained.

"Well you've met us, now end of chat." Leo attacked him with a bit too aggressive tone, so Esther grabbed his arm and squeezed it lightly. Feeling that, Leo immediately took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Okay, take it easy, detective Evans. I mean no offense." Alair held up his hands in a defensive gesture, which came with a slight effort, as he had a leather briefcase in one hand. He was about to walk away, but Esther's words stopped him halfway.

"Actually, I have one question for you, Mr. Taylor." she spoke up, giving him an intense look.

"Oh, is that so? I'm listening then, detective Moore." Alair replied, smiling slightly as if he was not bothered by her gaze.

"Mr. Taylor, why do you want to defend someone like that? And defending him so fiercely, trying to make him a madman who doesn't know what he's doing? This man raped, tortured, and murdered women just because they seemed too promiscuous to him. You must have read his testimony, right?" Esther said reproachfully.

"Detective Moore..." Alair sighed, looking at her with something like sympathy in his eyes. "First of all, this is my job and I am going to do it as best I can. Just like you, detective." he continued. "Secondly, not everything is black and white; there are greys too. And reading all of Mr. Vermeulen's interrogations, I know perfectly well what he went through and I know from experience that what he did may be the result of a huge trauma he experienced in his childhood, and his subsequent unsuccessful relationship only deepened it." Alair explained. "I know that for you in the police force this man is only a murderer, but you are forgetting the reasons for his downfall. Besides, Laurens Vermeulen, like every human being, has the right to defence in court." he added then departed from them.

"That crazy motherfucker..." Leo grunted through his teeth.

"Relax, there's no point in cursing at him." Esther squeezed his shoulder again. "Let's not get upset, we need some peace now. Let's just focus on what we are to say in the court hearing." she added, looking at him pleadingly.

"You're right." Leo agreed, taking a deep breath.

About five minutes later, everyone was allowed into the courtroom, starting the first case against Laurens Vermeulen aka Mad Dog. Esther and Leo entered the room, trying to arrange in their heads all the important information that they might be asked about.

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When Esther and Leo were questioned, it was fairly standard. They were mainly asked to describe the course of the investigation, the evidence obtained, and most of all the details of the detention and subsequent interrogations of the accused. Of course, Alair Taylor, as a defence attorney, had to ask them about the screams of Laurens Vermeulen they heard from the apartment before coming in and the words the would-be victim had spoken about this event. It was obvious that everyone present in the room was initially outraged by his questions, but when more were asked during the interrogations of other people, that clearly indicated that the defendant's sanity was undermined, some clearly began to wonder if Alair Taylor was right. The defence was especially "helped" by the testimony of the would-be victim, who confirmed under oath that she had heard Laurens Vermeulen's screams and repeated the words he was saying, which indicated that either someone else was in the apartment, or that the accused was insane and had hallucinations.

However, it was not until Laurens Vermeulen himself was questioned that the whole court hearing took a negative turn for the Prosecution.

"Please, tell me exactly what happened in that apartment before you were arrested..." Alair Taylor spoke up when it was his time to question.

"Objection! Your Honour, these circumstances have already been described," interjected the prosecutor, a tall, broad-shouldered man with black eyes and hair and a tanned complexion. He looked just like a 45-year-old he was.

"Your honour, the prosecutor didn't let me finish my question." Alair explained calmly.

"I objection overruled." The judge, a thin grey-haired man with a beard, moustache, and pale wrinkled skin, turned to the prosecutor, then to the defender. "Please continue, Mr. Taylor." he added.

"So Mr. Vermeulen, what exactly happened before the police arrived at the apartment? Why were you screaming? Someone attacked you? Please tell us exactly and honestly. I remind you that you are under an oath." Alair turned to the accused again.

"Well..." Laurens began hesitantly. "When I wanted to catch that woman, I started to hear some whispers and my head hurt so much, which made me stop halfway and she ran away. That's when I saw them..." the man paused, his face showing as if he really was bringing back some very unpleasant memories.

"Please continue. Who did you saw?" Alair urged.

"Five figures, each of them had beautiful features and golden hair, like angels in pictures, but also huge scarlet wings and fully dark blue eyes, without any pupils. There were four men and one woman, and she and one of the men appeared to be the leaders. They introduced themselves as Scarlet Angels and said they had come to punish me for my grave sins... Somehow they summoned the souls of my victims and made me feel their pain... So I started screaming, it was unbearable... I asked them to stop, begged for mercy... Soon after I heard a shot when the police destroyed the lock to get to the apartment... Then these creatures caused some gale and disappeared." he told quickly, now clearly terrified. "That female angel... She showed up later in my cell while I was in pre-trial detention. She whipped me until the guards came running, I still have marks... A report on this event was written, you must have it in your papers." he added at the end.

"Your Honour, I can't believe you're listening to this," the prosecutor stood up again, clearly indignant. "This man is making things up, under oath, clearly wanting us to consider him insane so he would avoid imprisonment." he added, looking at Laurens with obvious contempt.

"I would like to recall the testimony of my client, confirmed by the evidence I have collected." Alair spoke up. "Laurens Vermeulen experienced a trauma in his childhood, which was aggravated by his unsuccessful relationship later... Which certainly had an impact on his psyche, so it would not be strange if he had any problems of a psychological nature." he remarked, looking first at the judge, and then at the prosecutor. "In my opinion Laurens Vermeulen have, at the least, diminished capacity to know that what he did was wrong, it is also very possible that he was insane when committing the crimes. That is why I am requesting, on behalf of my client, a psychiatric examination by forensic doctors." he added at the end, causing a buzz of dissatisfied and shocked voices in the room.

"I am asking for silence in the courtroom!" the judge raised his voice, hitting the several times with his gavel.

"I swear I'm telling the truth..." Laurens interjected, looking at the judge pleadingly as if to convince even one person in the courtroom that he was not crazy and really saw these beings.

The judge shot him a stern look that made him immediately fall silent, as did the rest of the courtroom. After a short moment of complete silence, the judge's gaze passed from the accused to his defender, then to the prosecutor and the rest of the people sitting behind, also Esther and Leo.

"I accept the defence request. Laurens Vermeulen will be psychiatrically examined by forensics and the next hearing will be held after their opinion will be ready." the judge decided in a tone that did not bear the opposition. It was obvious that this matter irritated him very much. "Of course, both the examination and the opinion preparing will be accelerated as this is an urgent matter. Each party will be notified by a written summons of the new date. This is where we'll end today's trial." he added before hitting his gavel again. Then everyone present stood up, and the judge left the room, followed by everyone else in turn.

"Unbelievable... It must be some kind of nightmare." Esther said, still standing in her place.

"I know, I don't get it either how could it go that way, but we've got to go now." Leo took her arm and pulled lightly towards the door. "But don't worry about it that much, unless Laurens Vermeulen is really crazy, he won't be able to fool the doctors. And in my opinion, Mad Dog was perfectly sane when committing his crimes." Leo added after a moment, when they found themselves in the corridor.

"Hope you are right." Esther concluded, and they started walking toward the building's exit.