"Man killed girlfriend, unborn baby by forcing her to take abortion pills, drugs"

"A man in the Netherlands has been sentenced to almost 16 years in prison after it was found he murdered his girlfriend and unborn baby using a cocktail of drugs and abortion pills.

Patricia de Oliveira Santos, a Brazilian, and her almost full-term baby died in 2019 after her boyfriend, Dennis van E., forced her to consume abortion pills and a lethal cocktail of drugs. Van E. pressured Santos at least several times to have an abortion while she was living in Brazil, repeatedly telling her he did not want a boy, Live Action reported.

Van E. claimed that Santos herself wanted an abortion and had attempted one multiple times in Brazil, but prosecutors said text messages between the couple proved otherwise.

The man forced Santos to take abortion pills, and then a deadly cocktail of drugs, including MDMA, cocaine, and alcohol, according to prosecutors.

This caused a uterine tear, leading to the hemorrhaging and death of Santos, and that of her baby. The 32 year-old mother was between eight to nine months pregnant.

Van E. was found guilty in 2024. 'Your plan was clear, the fetus had to die,' the court said. The court further denounced his actions as “(c)ruel, unscrupulous and perverse.”

The man claimed to have been asleep while Santos was dying, but the prosecutors highlighted signs of violence against her as evidence that this was not the case. 'She had injuries to her face, and several of her teeth were found in her mouth and throat,' Live Action noted.

Santos would have been in 'immense pain' otherwise. 'The suspect let her bleed to death,' the prosecutors concluded.

Van E. has been sentenced to a stay in a psychiatric facility after his 15 years and nine months in prison.

As Live Action has pointed out, homicide is a top cause of death for pregnant women, 'including women who refuse to kill their preborn children at the demands of their abusive partners.'"