Since she refused to undergo a psych evaluation it's not clear if she is mentally ill... but the sheer lengths she would go to to keep up a "perfect" facade paints a very disturbing picture of her. She was so paranoid about being discovered that she didn't go to an abortion clinic, though abortions are perfectly legal there (distasteful as it is, she could have terminated the pregnancies at an early stage)... and yet she allowed herself to get pregnant four fricking times. 
As for four concealed pregnancies, though it does sound suspicious, I know there are some women who barely swell up when they are pregnant... there are even accounts of inexperienced girls not knowing they are pregnant until they are already in labor. As for the bodies, I loathe to talk about the properties of a decomposing newborn child (forgive me), but I assume when it is locked tightly in a suitcase in the attic such a tiny thing would barely make a smell (though why she would keep them that way is another grizzly detail to this despicable mess).
In my (two minute) research on dutch law, it appears there is a certain subterfuge in their system. Though the average life sentence is 12-15 years, at the end of this period a committee will decide whether she is fit to be released back into society or whether she should be indefinitely detained in a mental institution (psychiatric treatment would be their only way of justifying a longer sentence). I think they might be angling to give her much longer than 12 years later on. Still, a 12-year sentence on a capital crime like murder sounds shocking to me.
As for four concealed pregnancies, though it does sound suspicious, I know there are some women who barely swell up when they are pregnant... there are even accounts of inexperienced girls not knowing they are pregnant until they are already in labor. As for the bodies, I loathe to talk about the properties of a decomposing newborn child (forgive me), but I assume when it is locked tightly in a suitcase in the attic such a tiny thing would barely make a smell (though why she would keep them that way is another grizzly detail to this despicable mess).
In my (two minute) research on dutch law, it appears there is a certain subterfuge in their system. Though the average life sentence is 12-15 years, at the end of this period a committee will decide whether she is fit to be released back into society or whether she should be indefinitely detained in a mental institution (psychiatric treatment would be their only way of justifying a longer sentence). I think they might be angling to give her much longer than 12 years later on. Still, a 12-year sentence on a capital crime like murder sounds shocking to me.
PS. If you can, try your hand at giving some of the others a bit of feedback. If you already have, thanks, can you do some more?