The Killings of Farida Zargar and Nanda Kerklaan
Nanda Kerklaan and Farida Zargar were killed in separate attacks in Spijkenisse in 2010. Patrick S. was convicted in both deaths; after an initial life sentence, the Hague Court of Appeal imposed 25 years in prison plus compulsory psychiatric treatment, and he chose not to seek cassation.
The deaths of Nanda Kerklaan, 43, and Farida Zargar, 21, became linked during a wider investigation into violent robberies around Spijkenisse. Although the attacks occurred months apart, the two deaths were ultimately adjudicated in the same criminal case against Patrick S., alongside the attempted killing of a Polish man who survived a later robbery.
Nanda Kerklaan
On January 28, 2010, Nanda Kerklaan was found critically injured near the Malledijk in Spijkenisse. She died in hospital several days later. The case was initially difficult to explain, and it took later investigative developments before authorities connected her death to Patrick S.
Patrick S. denied being the person who inflicted the fatal violence on Kerklaan. During the appeal he said a former associate had attacked her. The Hague Court of Appeal rejected that account and found Patrick S. criminally responsible for her death. This dossier therefore reports the conviction while preserving the fact that he disputed that part of the case.
Farida Zargar
Farida Zargar disappeared on August 5, 2010. Her remains were found the following year in woodland near Spijkenisse. During the appeal proceedings Patrick S. acknowledged responsibility for her death, after previously denying involvement.
The court treated the killing as qualified manslaughter connected to robbery rather than as a premeditated murder charge. That legal distinction is preserved here: everyday reporting often described the case as murder, but the final Dutch judgment used a different criminal-law classification.
A surviving victim and a broader case
The prosecution also proved a later attack on a Polish man during a robbery in 2011. The man survived. That episode formed part of the same prosecution and helped establish the seriousness and repeated nature of the offending, but it is not counted as a third homicide.
Police explored whether Patrick S. might be linked to additional disappearances or killings in the Rotterdam region. Contemporary reporting said there were suspicions and investigative checks, but no reliable judgment located for this review establishes his responsibility for those other cases. They are therefore not folded into this dossier's victim count.
Life sentence at first instance
On July 25, 2013, the Rotterdam court imposed life imprisonment after finding Patrick S. responsible for the deaths of Zargar and Kerklaan, the attempted killing of the Polish man and other crimes. He appealed.
His posture changed during the appeal. He admitted responsibility for Zargar's death and agreed to psychiatric examination at the Pieter Baan Centre, while continuing to contest responsibility for the fatal violence against Kerklaan.
The 2014 appeal judgment
On December 11, 2014, the Hague Court of Appeal again found Patrick S. guilty of the two killings and the attempted qualified manslaughter of the surviving man, among other offenses. The court imposed a 25-year prison term together with TBS—court-ordered psychiatric treatment with compulsory confinement.
The sentence differed from the life term imposed at first instance because psychiatric evaluation concluded that Patrick S. had diminished criminal responsibility and required treatment. The change in sentence did not erase either homicide conviction.
The judgment becomes final
On December 23, 2014, Patrick S.'s lawyer announced that he would not take the case to the Dutch Supreme Court in cassation. Contemporary reporting therefore described the appeal judgment as irrevocable. He continued to disagree with the conviction concerning Kerklaan, but chose not to pursue the final legal challenge.
Nanda Kerklaan and Farida Zargar were separate victims in separate attacks, but their deaths were adjudicated together against the same defendant, alongside the same appeal and final sentencing decision. Keeping them in one dossier avoids artificially splitting a single prosecution into multiple pages merely to increase a country count.
Timeline
- Nanda Kerklaan is found critically injured
She is discovered near the Malledijk in Spijkenisse and later dies in hospital.
- Farida Zargar disappears
The 21-year-old vanishes in Spijkenisse; her remains are found the following year.
- A Polish robbery victim survives
A later violent robbery becomes part of the criminal case against Patrick S. and an associate.
- Life sentence at first instance
The Rotterdam court convicts Patrick S. in the two deaths and other serious offenses.
- Appeal sentence: 25 years plus TBS
The Hague Court of Appeal upholds criminal responsibility for both deaths while imposing a different sanction after psychiatric evaluation.
- No cassation appeal
Patrick S. decides not to seek Supreme Court review, making the appeal judgment final.
Sources and further reading
- Rechtspraak — Hague Court of Appeal judgment, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2014:4016, December 11, 2014
- NOS — December 11, 2014 report on the appeal convictions and 25-year-plus-TBS sentence
- Reformatorisch Dagblad / ANP — December 23, 2014 report that Patrick S. would not seek cassation
- NOS — July 25, 2013 report on the first-instance life sentence
Last reviewed: September 4, 2026