The police made several stings in the period before the double murder in Weiteveen, a year ago. This can be concluded from a currently confidential investigation report into the actions of the police. This document shows that the entire police system has failed.
On January 16, 2024, 51-year-old Richard K. shot and killed 44-year-old Ineke in her car. He then killed 38-year-old Sam, Ineke’s husband, with extreme violence. An escalating conflict over the sale of a home preceded the murders.
According to the report, the police often did not intervene in time, did not coordinate their actions internally and failed to take away K.’s weapons. The latter did not happen because insufficient attention was paid to the concerns and complaints received about K.. For example, after Ineke’s reports of stalking by K., the police failed to initiate an internal procedure specifically designed for this purpose.
Richard K.’s girlfriend alerted the police in July 2023 that he has a ‘brain disorder, which means he does not respond as expected and can be overstimulated.’ After that report, the police should have revoked K.’s firearms permit and collected his weapons, the police now realize. As a result, his illegal weapons may have been found, with which he later killed Ineke and Sam.
“The report contains conclusions and recommendations from which the police can learn a lot,” spokesperson Tessel Horsman told RTV Drenthe. The police do not want to comment substantively yet, because the report is not yet public. “Now that it appears that information from the report is known to third parties and is being made public prematurely, this is damaging the process of expressing views.” According to the spokesperson, ‘the interests of those directly involved are paramount at this time’. “The police expects your understanding for this.”
Police initially expected to publish the report last fall. That was postponed to December, but that date was also not met. A spokesperson said that the investigation will take more time than initially assumed. Now that the draft report has been completed, the findings have been explained to those directly interested in a personal conversation, according to the police.
Last July, the municipality of Emmen already released its findings. That investigation showed that Mayor Eric van Oosterhout had not been informed by his officials about the conflict that preceded the murders.