For shooting dead and removing the body of Jihad Jafo from Enschede, owner Hamid S. of a Middle Eastern supermarket in Hoogeveen heard demands for a sixteen-year prison sentence on Tuesday.
The public prosecutor spoke in the court in Almelo of a gruesome murder. “This murder is extra gruesome because the victim was wrapped like a parcel and dumped without any respect for life and body after his death.”
Body in canal
On May 22, 2022, passers-by found Jafo’s body in the Almelo-De Haandrik canal near Bruchterveld (municipality of Hardenberg). The 32-year-old Enschede resident has been missing for five months. He has two gunshot wounds and his body is wrapped in tape, wrapped in a blanket and garbage bags, tied with the cord of a decorative curtain and weighted with a fire hose stand.
After extensive research, Hamid S., who lives in Den Ham, comes into the picture. He has a Middle Eastern supermarket in the De Weide shopping center in Hoogeveen and was friends with Jafo. S. is also the last person to see him alive on December 6, 2021, the day of his disappearance.
DNA and tripod
The supermarket owner has always denied having anything to do with the murder. He stated that he dropped Jafo off at a roundabout in Enschede. An acquaintance of Jafo was said to have been waiting in a car there.
The Public Prosecution Service does not believe that story. Jafo’s telephone was found later that evening near S.’s house in Den Ham, research shows. Furthermore, the ‘acquaintance’ was never found and two DNA traces were found on the wrapped body of the victim: one from 47-year-old S. himself and one from an employee of his store. The fire hose stand in the store in Hoogeveen appears to be gone; according to the Public Prosecution Service, this is the tripod with which Jihad Jafo’s body was weighed down.
In love
The murder seems to resemble a crime of passion: according to the Public Prosecution Service, S. was in love with Jafo’s wife and wanted to continue with her. Jafo and his wife are also said to have defrauded him of tens of thousands of euros under false pretenses. According to the justice department, no indications have been found that anyone else could have had anything to do with the death of the Enschede resident.
“A body is not just thrown away by someone. That happens with an interest. And where the suspect does not explain anything about this, reasoning may or must be done according to the rules of logic,” said the officer. “It is most likely that the suspect disposed of the body because he himself was involved in the death of the victim.”
Lawyer Umut Ural requested acquittal, reports RTV East . According to him, the Public Prosecution Service’s investigation was not complete and the evidence is mainly based on assumptions. The verdict will be announced on February 20.