A 52-year-old woman on trial for killing her husband should be jailed for 20 years, the public prosecution says.

Ada S was originally accused of killing two husbands but the first murder charge, dating to 2004, has been dropped by the prosecution because of a lack of evidence.

S was on trial this week for killing her second husband in 2012 and forging a life insurance policy for the man. She may also have been involved in an arson attack in Sambeek, setting fire to the home of an ex-boyfriend in 2013, the court was told.

Cared for

S told the court this week she had taken out life insurance on her husband because ‘I wanted to be cared for afterwards’.

S is said to have forged the signature on the policy and had it delivered to her son’s address. The €250,000 policy was set to run for five years, and her husband did not need to go through a medical check up. The day before her husband died, she changed the address.

S has admitted forging the life insurance policy but denies killing her husband. Her lawyer, Mirjam de Vilder, on Thursday told the court there is no evidence that S poisoned him, as the prosecution states.

Odd

Police began investigating S after the daughters of S’s second husband went to the police. Although their father officially died of a heart attack, they felt the widow’s behaviour was odd.

She complained about the size of his pension and is alleged to have said to his body after he died ‘lovely that you are no longer here, that mouth is shut for good’.

The man’s body was exhumed and traces of various medicines were found in it. S worked as a terminal care nurse.

The trial concluded on Thursday afternoon and the court is due to give its verdict in late November.