The 42-year-old man who is in custody for a stabbing and because of a two-year-old missing person case is known to the police. This is evident from research by Omroep Brabant. The suspect has caused considerable nuisance in his hometown of Middelbeers in recent years. “He terrorized the neighborhood,” said a local resident. “We were really afraid of that man.” According to councilor Joep van de Ven, it is a ‘difficult file’ and the man refused help.
On April 10 this year, the well-known catering boss Jan Verhoeven was stabbed in the center of Best. A 42-year-old man was arrested that same evening by an arrest team in his home in Middelbeers.
Fear
Last Monday, that man was arrested again in his cell, this time in a two-year-old missing person case from Dronten. On April 15, 2024, 36-year-old Marc Jaskulski disappeared after an appointment via the gay dating app Grindr. His bicycle was found in the water, but there is no trace of Marc. The police suspect foul play.
It now appears that the 42-year-old man, from Ukraine, is known to the police, municipality and aid agencies. Various people involved reported this to Omroep Brabant. The man had lived in a rental home on Calluna in Middelbeers since the summer of 2024. He caused problems and fear there for a long time. “Communication with the man was not possible, he did not speak Dutch or English,” says a neighbor.
Victims suffer a lot
Book burnings, vandalism, thefts and intimidation are the order of the day in Oostelbeers and Middelbeers in the winter of 2024/2025. “Stop it, stop it. He has caused us so much inconvenience,” says a man when asked about the 42-year-old man. “He’s a really nasty guy. I was terrified of him.” For example, he punctured a neighbor’s car tire, set fire to trash cans and vandalized the shared sheds.
After vandalism was reported, he started banging on the complainant’s door in the middle of the night. “It really bothered me a lot and I was able to work less for a few weeks and sought help,” says the local resident. “The stabbing confirms that things could have turned out very differently here if we had spoken to him.”
Book burnings
At the beginning of 2025, a Mini Library in Oostelbeers was looted several times. The manager caught the then 42-year-old man. “I spoke to him, in retrospect I shouldn’t have done that. He then broke open my front door. Fortunately I was not at home, a neighbor saw it happen and chased the man away.” This victim also suffered from intimidation for a long time and did not dare to go out on the street in a recognizable manner for weeks.
The suspect didn’t just steal the books, he set them on fire. The police catch him in one of those book burnings. “He was sitting on a fat bike while he watched the fire. Several books were on fire on a tree stump,” police reported at the time. The man flees when he sees the police. The 42-year-old suspect is also linked to a series of fires in the village, but the police cannot comment on this now due to his privacy.
The suspect was a refuser
According to councilor Joep van de Ven, it is a very difficult file. “The man was a suspect for, among other things, fires at the Old Tower. But there was no red-handed act and that makes it difficult.” According to the councilor, the municipality has offered the man help. “But he was a refuser. He didn’t want help.”
“It is very poignant and sad,” the councilor continues. “He was quite confused with himself.” According to Van de Ven, the suspect wanted to leave Middelbeers, but authorities did not cooperate. “The biggest fear is that he will come back here,” say almost all local residents we speak to. “But with these two suspicions, the possibility has become small.”