The three suspects of lighting the deadly house fire at the Hilversum Lutherhof will hear their sentence today. The fire killed couple Marco Witkamp and Vanessa Vos two years ago.
Three Hilversum men are suspected of starting the fire. The public prosecutor has demanded a prison sentence of two years and juvenile TBS against the main suspect – who was still a minor at the time of the fire. The other two suspects face up to seven years in prison.
Fire after harassment
Two years ago, the fire was the absolute low point of a longer series of harassment involving the Hilversum couple. Their house is regularly pelted with eggs and stones and there was once a dead rat in front of the door.
However, the harassment was dwarfed by what happened on the early morning of Friday, May 28. When Marco and Vanessa are still sleeping peacefully, a young boy walks through the front garden without anyone noticing. Gasoline is poured through the letterbox and lit. The flames then spread rapidly. Marco and Vanessa are trapped like rats and have nowhere to go.
The fire brigade sounds a big alarm about the fire. Every effort is made to extinguish the fire. Marco and Vanessa are taken from the house and resuscitated on the street. They are rushed to the hospital, but in vain. Quick help is of no avail. The couple later dies in hospital.
Neighborhood order
A month ago it appeared in court that the fatal house fire was probably started on commission. The suspects would have received 150 euros for it.
It was not clear who exactly the client would have been. However, the lawyer for the next of kin stated that it could just be one of the neighbors. After all, there has sometimes been noise nuisance, and then a kind of quarrel arose that never resolved, she argued.
The verdict in the case is this afternoon.