The 52-year-old Jan Willem H. from Assen must appear in court today for the murder of his partner Eva Balogh (37). Her body was found on February 7 in a roof box that was floating around in the Oranjekanaal near Orvelte.
The woman was reported missing in February 2021. Shortly after the discovery, the police arrested the Assenaar as a suspect. The man confessed that he had strangled the Hungarian woman in March 2020. He hid her body for two years.
During the last preparatory hearing, photos of the garage of the suspect’s father were added to the file. The impression was created that the body had been lying there all along.
The man did not appear at the previous hearings. According to his lawyer, the man suffers from depression and going to court was too difficult for him. The man was examined at the Pieter Baan Center, but he did not want to cooperate. At the first hearing at the end of May, relatives of the victim had also come over from Hungary. It then became clear that the family had already called the police in Hungary at the beginning of 2020. They were unable to contact Eva and were concerned about her stay in Assen.
In May 2014, the Assenaar was sentenced to a community service of 120 hours and a suspended prison sentence of one month for cannabis cultivation. He also had to pay more than 12,000 euros, because that money was earned illegally. The nursery was found after an anonymous report. The man had 148 plants ready for harvest. He was in debt.
He lived with the Hungarian woman, who was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. The man is now, more than eight years later, on trial again, but this time for murdering his partner and disposing of her body. The man is also suspected of diverting 5,500 euros from the victim’s account.
The court will spend all day on this case. The Assenaar’s lawyer said that the man is present this time.