The NPO program Investigation Requested tonight paid attention to the cold case case of Hannie Bakker from Winkel. Her daughters told their story on the basis of a gripping reconstruction. “I felt something wasn’t right.”
In the program, Hannie’s daughters talk about the evening of April 26, 2017, the evening their mother was fatally assaulted. “Our mother had canteen duty. I asked how things were going. Then she told me it wasn’t very busy and that she was already sitting at home.” Later Hannie also texted with a friend.
The next day one of her daughters visited Hannie’s house on the Limmerschouw in Winkel. She was supposed to go to the flea market with her grandchildren, but the then 68-year-old woman did not show up. “I called a few times, but she didn’t answer. I opened the door, because I had my own key. It felt different, that something was wrong.”
The reconstruction shows how the actress who plays Hannie’s daughter walks up the stairs towards the bedroom. She calls for her mother, but gets no answer. When she opens the bedroom door, she sees her mother. “It was horrible to see her lying there, on the floor next to the bed. I could tell it was very serious.”
Coma
Hannie was so badly abused that she ended up spending six weeks in a coma in the hospital before she passed away. As a result, she could not tell what happened to her. “It was quite hard to see that she was in a coma. Will she wake up?”, one of the daughters wondered. “You always have hope that things will work out. I don’t understand why someone would do this to such a lovely woman. I don’t understand.”
They are pleased with the renewed attention their mother’s case has received. “We are very pleased that it is being picked up again, because it is very difficult to be in uncertainty for so long. We do not know what happened and why. We would very much like to know that.”
DNA traces
Koos Venema of the North Holland police was present in the studio to explain the case. He says that DNA traces were found at the crime scene after the robbery. “We have secured DNA traces, but they have not yet led to a solution. In recent months we have looked at whether we can get to the perpetrator or perpetrators in a different way.”
For example, the police have enlisted the help of a number of detective psychologists. “We asked them if they could make a profile of the perpetrator or perpetrators. They indicate that it could be someone who was quite young at the time.” The police assume that the perpetrators come from the area, because they were well aware that there is little traffic on the Limmerschouw in Winkel at night and that they could go about their business undisturbed.
The police spokesman also said that twenty tips have now been received about the death of Hannie Bakker. A prize of 25,000 euros has been awarded for the golden tip.