American Student Fatally Stabbed in Netherlands Had Feared Roommate

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/world/europe/sarah-papenheim-netherlands.html

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An American psychology student who was fatally stabbed in her Netherlands apartment on Wednesday had texted a friend in the United States six days earlier, saying her roommate had threatened to kill three people.

Sarah Papenheim, 21, told her friend she was going to have to go to police. The friend, who shared the text messages with The Associated Press on Friday, isn’t sure if she ever did.

“I was concerned,” Ms. Papenheim’s friend, Adam Pryor, said about receiving that text on Dec. 6. “She said she was going to the police. It didn’t feel like she was in danger.”

Ms. Papenheim, a native of Minnesota, was stabbed Wednesday at her apartment near Erasmus University in the port city of Rotterdam, where she had been studying since 2016. Police tried unsuccessfully to revive her after arriving at her home after reports of an argument.

A 23-year-old man was arrested the same day at a railway station in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven. His name has not been released, but on Friday he appeared before an investigating judge in a closed hearing and was ordered detained for two weeks while the investigation continued.

In her Dec. 6 text messages to Mr. Pryor, Ms. Papenheim was unhappy about working full time and attending school full time. She then said: “My roommate told me hes gonna kill 3 people. So im gonna have to go to the police.”

Ms. Papenheim’s mother, Donee Odegard, told The Star Tribune in Minneapolis that the suspect arrested was her daughter’s roommate and that he reportedly had been “getting more and more angry” in recent weeks.

Ms. Papenheim was a drummer in the Minneapolis blues scene. Mr. Pryor, a 19-year-old keyboardist, said he and Ms. Papenheim met at a jam session a few years ago and immediately connected because of their love of music.

“Most people my age don’t know what blues music is, much less can play it and much less can play like she did,” he said. “She was just so special in so many ways.”

Mr. Pryor recalled one moment last summer when the two were at a show at a Minneapolis venue. Ms. Papenheim was called on stage to play with some of the biggest names in town, and although she was nervous, “she went up there and just nailed it.” Mr. Pryor said that was a big moment for Ms. Papenheim, who was shaking with excitement afterward.

Fikret Egemen, the owner of a kebab restaurant where Papenheim worked part time, fought back tears as he recalled how she immediately fit into his team when she started working for him in September.

“From day one, she picked up everything. She was like family,” he said. “She always worked with a smile, all day long, no problem. Angel.”