Chapter 35: Esther's Diary (Page 17 to 18)

On October 6th, the first hearing in the case of multiple murder with particular cruelty against Laurens Vermeulen was held. When me and Leo arrived at the courthouse it was still about fifteen minutes before the beginning of the trial. We were standing at the door of the courtroom where the hearing was to be held and less than five minutes after us, Alair Taylor, Laurens Vermeulen's public defender, arrived. Of course, when he started talking to us, it was not without nerves, especially from Leo. I saw that he was very irritated by his cheerful attitude and I had the impression that he was about to attack him. Of course I understood Leo, and had similar feelings about this man, but knew I had to keep myself from berating him. I only asked Alair Taylor how he could defend someone like Laurens Vermeulen, but his answer was what I expected - one and the same talk about the fact that not every murderer commits crimes out of low motives and that his client was traumatized and have