‘Psychotic, schizophrenic’ roommate who stabbed American student to death after she told friends he was going to kill her is jailed for six years in the Netherlands
- Joel Schelling, 23, is jailed for six years for manslaughter of Sarah Papenheim, 21
- Sarah Papenheim, 21, from Minnesota, U.S. was stabbed 27 times by Schelling
- Court was told he had been suffering from psychosis, schizophrenia and autism
A man who stabbed his female American roommate to death in the Netherlands last December has been jailed for six years for manslaughter to be followed by a stint in psychiatric prison.
Joel Schelling, 23, was arrested at the Eindhoven train station about 60 miles from Rotterdam, where the body of his 21 year-old-roommate was discovered in the building they shared at the Erasmus University.
Sarah Papenheim, 21, from Minnesota, was stabbed 27 times and sliced ten times with a knife by Schelling.
She had told friends just days earlier that her room mate wanted to kill her.
Police arrest Dutch musician Joel Schelling, 23, charged with murdering American college student, 21, who was stabbed to death in the Netherlands
During the trial Schelling said he couldn’t remember the whole killing, telling judges that he knew he was angry with Papenheim ‘and then I saw the blood on the wall and she was lying on her back’, reported Dutch News.
Experts advised judges that Schelling had been experiencing psychosis at the time of the killing and said that he had autism and schizophrenia.
Judges concluded that Schelling had not set out to kill Papenheim, charging him with manslaughter.
Papenheim had been due to return to Minnesota for the holidays and her mother had put the tree up in preparation
Papenheim, a psychology student, had contacted social workers concerned over Schelling’s behaviour before her death, but she was told there was nothing they could do after they visited him twice.
Papenheim’s friend Adam Pryor said she had texted him to say that her roommate was ‘gonna kill 3 people’.
‘I’m gonna have to go to the police,’ she added.
Pryor told Good Morning America: ‘I could tell she wasn’t doing right because she was just being weird over text and then I asked her what’s wrong and she said she never talks to anyone anymore.
Adam Pryor (left) said Pappenheim (right) had text him expressing concerns about Schelling’s behaviour
‘[She said], “I work full time and I have school full time and everything is just so f****d up right now
‘My roommate told me is going to kill three people so I’m gonna to have to go to the police.”‘
Pryor said she never gave any indication that she was in danger, or that her roommate was threatening her.