Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Nathanael Fidder
Topics: Crime, Netherlands
Emily Brown
Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.
A 25-year-old woman had no idea that a photo she'd sent to her boyfriend would be the last one she'd ever take, as she was murdered just a short while later.
Anne Faber was out on a bike ride in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, on 29 September, 2017 when she suddenly found herself caught in a downpour.
She had been heading in the direction of Den Dolder, a small village home to shops, restaurants and schools, and was near to a clinic when she stopped to capture what she likely thought was a funny moment for her boyfriend.
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Faber pulled a peace sign with her fingers and snapped a selfie of her looking drenched as the rain fell around her, then sent the photo to her boyfriend at about 6:50pm.
However, when Faber failed to return home that evening, her family became concerned. Her family and her boyfriend launched a search party for her, and spent the next 10 days scouring the area to try and figure out what had happened.
On 3 October, the search party discovered Faber's coat. Two days later, they found her bicycle, and the day after that they found her backpack.
Investigators sent Faber's coat to be tested for DNA, and found a match for then-27-year-old Michael P; a formerly convicted sex offender.
P had previously served several years in prison for rape and robbery, and at the time of Faber's death, he had been at the nearby clinic undergoing treatment.
However, Dutch News reports that the clinic was not aware P had been jailed for sex crimes as he had refused to allow the prison to pass on that information, meaning he was only treated for aggression and drugs abuse.
P was arrested in relation to Faber's death, and confessed three days later to killing her.
He told police that on the day of Faber's death, he had hit her with his scooter and then become angry.
He raped her and took her towards the small town of Soest, but Faber attempted to escape by calling out for help.
To prevent her from drawing attention, P then stabbed her to death with a knife.
Following his confession, P told police they could find Faber's body in a wooded area in a nature reserve in Zeewolde. Her body was then recovered.
Faber denied the killing was premeditated, but in 2019, an appeal court judge described his actions as 'cold and calculated'.
He was sentenced to 28 years in jail with psychiatric treatment.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org