The trial of a Frisian farmer who has admitted murdering a 16-year-old schoolgirl 13 years ago, began in Leeuwarden on Thursday.

Jasper S was arrested last November after a dna test identified him as the potential killer of Marianne Vaatstra, who was raped, murdered and her body dumped in a field.

Last summer police organised a mass dna test of men living close to the field where the girl’s body was found. Some 6,500 men volunteered for the test, including Jasper S.

Confession

S told the court he had forced Vaatstra to have sex with him at knifepoint and then slashed her throat ‘three times’.

S spotted Vaastra while on a bike ride to ‘clear his head’ because of tension between him and his father. When he saw Vaatstra on her bike he said he decided to follow her. ‘You are mine,’ ran through his head, he told the court.

The case continues.