The court will rule this afternoon in the case against three teenagers who, according to the judiciary, were involved in the death of Casper Verheijen. Casper, 29, died early last year after an argument stabbed to death at the Sloterplas. The judiciary demanded 360 days of juvenile detention against the youngest suspect (16), while community service was demanded against the two others.
It has been more than a year since Casper Verheijen from Nijmegen was stabbed to death: 29-year-old Casper is half January finished his working day near the Osdorpplein. Three underage boys approach him at a popular coffee shop on the Sloterplas. An argument ensues and a knife is drawn. “He was stabbed right in the heart,” his grandmother later said at a memorial. Casper has to be operated on urgently and dies that same day in hospital.
Defeat
Casper’s death causes a stir: about fifty local residents hold one two weeks later silent protest against senseless violence. Local resident Hélène says: “We want to show the relatives and the environment that we find all the violence in the neighborhood just terrible. That really has to stop.”
His death also hits like a bomb in the immediate vicinity of Casper. It is with great sadness that the friends of the great skateboarding talent learn of his death. “This is so unjust, so deeply and profoundly sad.”
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Three boys were arrested almost immediately after the stabbing. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the youngest, then 15 years old, is responsible for Casper’s death. He and two 17-year-old co-defendants must answer to the court more than a year later.
Eye in eye
“We are not doing well”, says Rik Verheijen – Casper’s father – prior to the lawsuit in February of this year. “We are struggling with the fact that the suspects are being prosecuted through juvenile criminal law. Then you already know that the punishment will be minimal. In addition, Casper’s relatives go to court with mixed feelings. On the one hand you are looking forward to it, but I also dread being confronted with the suspects,” he looks ahead in mid-February.
Juvenile detention and community service
During the substantive treatment, the Public Prosecution Service demands 360 juvenile detention, 60 of which are conditional, against the youngest suspect. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the police investigation has largely made it clear what happened that day. For example, it has been established that the 16-year-old boy from Uithoorn hit Casper three times with a knife. The Public Prosecution Service therefore believes that there is conditional intent to kill. “While the boy would never have wanted Casper killed, he could and should have been aware that that outcome was possible.”
The Public Prosecution Service is demanding 80 hours of community service and one month of suspended youth detention against the 17-year-old from Amsterdam. 120 hours of community service and also one month of suspended juvenile detention are demanded against the 17-year-old boy from Amstelveen.