[1][2] On a few occasions, Fortuyn had expressed his fear of being murdered: after being pied at the official release of his book De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars,[3] as well as, most notably, on the talk show Jensen!

[4] In court at his trial, Van der Graaf, an environmental and animal rights activist,[5][6] said he murdered Fortuyn to stop him from exploiting Muslims as "scapegoats" and targeting "the weak members of society" in seeking political power.

Details of the suspect were always officially reported as "Volkert van der G." in accordance with unwritten Dutch privacy practice, but his full name was readily available on the internet.

He had planned the attack using information obtained from the Internet; printouts of a map of the scene of the crime and schedules of Fortuyn's appearances were found in his car.

The attack has been described as the work of a single person, an amateur shooter who used a relatively simple plan and did not prepare a good escape route.

Van der Graaf purchased his weapon and ammunition illegally; a semi-automatic Star Firestar M43 pistol in a café in Ede and 9mm cartridges in The Hague.

After the murder of Fortuyn, the gun was linked to a suspect in the robbery of a jeweller in Emmen through DNA material found on the weapon.

During the trip he stopped several times, among other things to purchase a razor to remove his stubble, which together with the cap and glasses would disguise his appearance, while the gloves would avoid leaving fingerprints.

They ran from the grounds of the Media Park onto a public road, where Van der Graaf pointed the pistol at arm's length at Smolders.

[17] The coalition cabinet which formed after the election of the Christian Democratic Appeal, Pim Fortuyn List and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy fell after three months, due to conflicts between LPF members.

In a 2004 television show election, Fortuyn was chosen as De Grootste Nederlander ("Greatest Dutchman of All Time"), followed by William the Silent, the leader of the war for independence that established the precursor to the present-day Netherlands.

The murder of film director Theo van Gogh for comments critical of Islam had occurred a few days before the election and many votes for Fortuyn were attributed to this event.

[citation needed] It later turned out that William the Silent had received more votes, many of which were not counted before Fortuyn was declared the winner, due to technical problems.

[18] After Fortuyn's death, the Netherlands' right-wing politicians, including former Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk and Geert Wilders, increased in profile and prominence.