The 69-year-old Polish man who was found dead on August 28 in an apartment in the center of Uden was beaten to death. In the court in Den Bosch on Friday it emerged that the judiciary suspects 46-year-old Arkadiusz N. from Poland of hitting the man with a hard object.
In the first preliminary hearing after the discovery of the dead man in that apartment at the Gallery in Uden, it turned out that it must have been a bizarre scene.
Arkadiusz N. was allowed by the landlord to live in that apartment above a toy store and baby store in exchange for doing odd jobs, his lawyer said after the hearing.
Argument between couple
One of the landlord’s rules was that Arkadiusz was not allowed to receive visitors. And that was probably for good reason. Arkadiusz drank a lot and the victim, named Stefan, did the same.
Stefan regularly visited there to take a shower in addition to drinking a lot. He also sometimes received money, Arkadiusz’s lawyer said.
That day both Poles drank beer and wine together, supplemented with vodka. And when the booze ran out on that Thursday, Arkadiusz went to get more booze. At one point an argument arose between the depressed Poles and a fight broke out, the lawyer explained during the short hearing.
Victim dragged into the hall
Stefan fell into everything in the house and at one point remained motionless on the floor. Arkadiusz tried to wake him up. He thought Stefan was unconscious and dragged him into the hall to clean the living room carpet, which was covered in blood.
Arkadiusz was afraid that the landlord could come in at any moment. He was not allowed to receive visitors at all, otherwise he would be evicted from the house, he was warned.
The landlord probably recognized Stefan’s mobility scooter downstairs on the street. He entered the apartment to put an end to the meeting. But there he found Arkadiusz and the lifeless Stefan. The police came to the apartment and arrested Arkadiusz.
According to the lawyer, the cause of death is still open to dispute. Stefan was already in poor health, he claimed. He would be a heart patient and an alcoholic.
According to the lawyer, the cause of death lies in a combination of circumstances and is not solely due to the beating. Justice, on the other hand, says that hair and blood were found on a lamp and that could indicate that Stefan was hit hard with that lamp.
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A lot of research still needs to be done into the cause of Stefan’s death and what exactly happened in the apartment, as became clear at this first preliminary hearing. The next interim hearing on March 6 will reveal how far the investigation has progressed.
Meanwhile, Arkadiusz is in prison in Ter Apel. This is a special institution for people without Dutch nationality who have committed a crime in the Netherlands and are staying in the country illegally.
Due to a misunderstanding, Arkadiusz himself was not at the hearing. The justice transporters thought he was still in the PI in Grave and therefore they had come to the wrong address.
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