Remembering Greg Halman

Greg Halman never played another Major League game after the 2011 season.

On November 21, 2011– Exactly eight years after having first been signed by the Twins– Halman was stabbed to death in Rotterdam in his native Netherlands.What’s more his brother Jason, the one who also played for the Dutch national team, was arrested for the killing. Greg was only 24 years old.

After almost a year Jason was released by the Dutch authorities on August 16, 2012. The prosecution and the defense had come to an agreement that Jason was suffering from a partially-marijuana-induced psychosis at the time of the stabbing. Jason, as part of the terms of his release, agreed to probation and mental health counseling.

He was formally acquitted for the killing of his brother, Greg Halman, on August 30th on the grounds of temporary insanity.

The court was not concerned that Jason would repeat such violent actions, and he was released from psychiatric care soon thereafter.

All that potential, all that joy, all that love for the game of baseball, taken away in an instant by someone suffering from psychosis. His own brother, someone he felt safe with and thought he could trust.