Former health minister Els Borst, who was found dead in the garage of her home in Bilthoven on Monday, may have died as the result of a crime, police said on Thursday.

The investigation into Borst’s death is continuing after a post mortem established she had died as the result of wounds to her body, rather than natural courses.

Without ruling out an accidental death completely, the public prosecution department said on Thursday that the forensic investigation, coupled with evidence at the scene, makes it ‘most likely… Borst lost her life through a criminal act.’

Borst, 81 and a doctor by profession, was health minister in two governments between 1994 and 2002. She was responsible for steering legislation legalising euthanasia and embryo research onto the statute books.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday in Utrecht.