Important evidence at the appeal was to be the statement of a detainee in the Pieter Baan Center, a criminal psychological observation unit, at the same time as Lucia de Berk, that she had said during outdoor exercise: "I released these 13 people from their suffering". However, during the appeal, the man withdrew his statement, saying that he had made it up. The news service of the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (NOS) and other media that followed the process considered the withdrawal of this evidence to be a huge setback for Public Prosecution Service (OM). A series of articles appeared over the following years in several newspapers, including "Vrij Nederland" and the "Volkskrant", raising doubts about the conviction.