Five bullets — three in his head, one in his neck and one in his back — hit Fortuyn as he left a radio station in Hilversum. Van der Graaf was captured a short distance from the scene.

The killing was a defining moment in modern Dutch history. It was the first political assassination in 300 years and in one murderous second, the country lost its most flamboyant and popular politician in living memory. Political consensus in the Netherlands totally collapsed as Fortuyn's supporters accused the "Left" of complicity in Fortuyn's murder.

"The bullet came from the Left", fumed Ferry Hoogendijk, a leading member of Fortuyn's LPF party.

Disillusioned voters — who were enamoured by (with) Fortuyn — flocked to the polls nine days after the killing, giving the LPF 1.6 million votes and 26 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

Long-standing toleration of immigrants and law breaking was swept aside as tightening the borders and fighting crime became the main priorities.

Exactly the opposite, it would seem, of what Van der Graaf intended. And far from being seen as a hero, the majority of the Dutch public hopes the court will throw away the key when Van der Graaf is sentenced on 15 April.

Volkert Van Der Graaf

Who is this man who has attracted so much hatred?

Volkert van der Graaf is a white Dutch father of one child who lived in rented accommodation in the town of Harderwijk, east of the Ijsselmeer.

A committed vegan, he dedicated his life to actively campaigning for animal rights. At the age of 15, Van der Graaf helped care for oil-covered birds in Zeeland province.

Later he attended Wageningen agricultural college to study life sciences and agriculture. While there, he joined an anti-vivisection group and campaigned to reduce the use of lab animals.

By all accounts, Van der Graaf was intelligent but never really stood out from the crowd. Shunning the mainstream environmental lobby group Milieudefensie (environment defence), he went to work behind the scenes for a smaller, pro-active group calling itself Milieu-Offensief (environment offensive).

A few years ago, Van der Graaf gave an interview to an animal rights website in which he explained: "We use legal means to fight permits for factory and fur farms. We use the law as our tool".

Pim Fortuyn: faced allegations of being too right wing

In the months after his arrest there was all manner of public speculation about his motives and Fortuyn’s LPF party played up the suggestion other people may have been involved in the murder plot. All the while, Van der Graaf remained silent and refused to answer police questions about the shooting.

He even went on hunger strike to protest against having the light kept on 24 hours in his cell to enable constant camera surveillance. At one stage it looked as if he would fast to the death and deprive Fortuyn's family of the chance to find out why he murdered the politician.

He was eventually persuaded to start eating again and his trial was adjourned late last year so he could be psychiatrically assessed in the Peter Baan Centre in Utrecht.

When his trial resumed in March, Van der Graaf broke his silence and spoke publicly for the first time about his motives for killing Fortuyn. His statements throw up as many questions as they answered.

Asked by the prosecution whether he regretted killing Fortuyn, Van der Graaf answered: 'Killing another person is something, which I normally find morally reprehensible. But on May 6, I found it permissible. I am currently wrestling with that question'.

In a statement made before a judge in secret in November 2002, Van der Graaf said: "I had to stand up for the vulnerable groups. I did that".

"I underestimated the consequences for those groups and other politicians."

Then bizarrely, he went on to say he "seriously questioned" whether anything has changed in Dutch society regarding the vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities. "The vindictive atmosphere has continued," he said.

Described by the Peter Baan Centre as a "highly intelligent" man with strong political convictions and an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, Van der Graaf fell back on a rather clumsy cliché when the anti-democratic nature of his actions was put to him. "Hitler was elected democratically", he blurted out.

Not a very eloquent explanation but Van der Graaf is likely to spend the best part of the rest of his life behind bars, giving him plenty of time to think of a better answer.

April 2003