His sister and brother-in-law, Anna and René Van Wolferen live in a village near Arnhem. René is both an auxiliary firefighter and employed in a pharmaceutical company. He was wearing a T-shirt that said “We face what you fear” and had a beeper on his belt. Anna is a tall, nervously kind woman with brown hair.

Xennt had always lived “on the edge,” according to the Van Wolferens, but he was by no means a snarling genius. Instead, he was an intelligent, idealistic and perhaps naive individual who got himself into trouble. They were concerned about his mental health while in prison, as he spent most of his days playing chess by himself and had little contact with the outside world.

When Xennta’s father passed away in January 2020, his lawyer requested permission for her client to attend the funeral. The appeal was rejected. Xennt then requested a laptop to watch the service’s live feed, but this request was also denied.

The Van Wolferens talked time and time again about Xennt Herman’s childhood bedroom in Arnhem and how he had always been fascinated by futuristic aesthetics. René said Xennt turned to cannabinoid treatment in late middle age because he wanted to stay “forever young.” He described his brother-in-law as someone with arrested development.