What happened to Carlo Heuvelman on holiday on the Spanish island of Mallorca a year ago? And which of the nine Gooise suspects handed out the hard kicks that caused the young Waddinxvener to die a few days later? These are the two most important questions in the lawsuit over the fatal violence this week, but will there be an answer? The nine suspects are still very quiet in the first week of their trial.
The nine young Hilversummers have made almost no statements about the manslaughter of Carlo Heuvelman in the past year. They didn’t kick or punch him, sometimes they didn’t even see him. They explain endlessly about the other violence of the night in question, they even express a great deal of regret. But anything to do with Carlo’s death? Absolutely not, is the answer so far resolutely.
They have to talk, according to the court. On the first day of the trial, one of the judges tried to convince the boys to finally tell more about what happened to Carlo Heuvelman with a loud and emotional appeal.
“The fact that you remain silent ensures that Carlo’s parents, girlfriend and friends will be left with questions and grief for the rest of their lives. That must be terrible for them. And I can’t imagine that it won’t gnaw at you “You two will be left with a secret, maybe for the rest of your lives. Put an end to it in the coming weeks. Be a man and tell what happened.”
Suspects also say they have questions
The words do indeed reach the three main suspects, but they say ‘really don’t know anything’. They yearn for answers, they say. “I really want to know, because then I can also prove to myself that I have nothing to do with Carlo’s death,” Mees T., one of the main suspects, told the court.
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In the past year, he has tried several times to put the ‘puzzle’ together. “I put it together in different ways, but I can’t figure it out. I don’t know what happened. All I know is that it’s not me. Other than that, it remains guessing and speculating.”
Co-main suspects Hein B. and Sanil B. also deny having anything to do with the death of Carlo Heuvelman. If they did anything, it was mostly to calm things down, they say.
Sanil B. says that he has also tried several times to solve the mystery surrounding Carlo Heuvelman. “I understand that there are different pieces of the puzzle to prove it. A puzzle with pieces that may not fit together, but if you press hard enough, they still fit and it seems to be a coherent whole. But only later do you see that head and ass are wrong “That’s the best way to describe my situation. I’m being designated as the prime suspect because that may seem logical, but I swear when I say I didn’t do it.”
What do the Gooise boys know?
Do the three main suspects really know nothing about Carlo Heuvelman’s death or are they playing a clever game by keeping their mouths shut? They all know that it is very difficult for the law to prove that they kicked and beat Carlo. Video images of the evening in question show everything, but images of the deadly violence are missing.
Justice has to rely on the dozens of statements from witnesses, but they are also not unambiguous. Sometimes the three main suspects are identified by name and surname, other times other names are mentioned. For example, the main suspect Mees T. thinks that Stan F., Lukas O. and Lars van den H. should know more.
No hard evidence
There is no real hard evidence. There are suspicions that a part of one of the films has been cut off, which would indicate what happened to Carlo Heuvelman. If so, those images will probably never surface. Really solid evidence of the involvement of Hein B. and Mees T. in the fatal nightlife seems untraceable.
Things are different for Sanil B.. Justice thinks to be able to prove B.’s involvement in Carlo’s death with a DNA trace that was previously found on the left shoe of the Hilversummer. It goes on a dna track of Carlo Heuvelman. The big question, of course, is how that got on his shoes.
On the other hand, there are many witnesses. A part of them points to Sanil, another part says that he was not involved in the murder of Carlo Heuvelman.
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And then there are the six other suspects. They too say they know very little about what happened to Carlo Heuvelman, let alone what their friends’ role is in this. In fact: suspect Stan F., himself suspected of open violence, did not get any further than ‘I don’t know’, co-defendant Lukas O. invoked his right to remain silent in court.
Punishments for Gooise suspects
If the manslaughter of Carlo Heuvelman by the Gooise boys is really not proven, it could well be that the suspects get away with much lower sentences. The main suspects can then be convicted of aggravated assault resulting in death or open violence resulting in death. But that too has yet to be proven.
A large part of the group is also charged with attempted manslaughter, for the aggravated assault of a friend of Carlo Heuvelman and the blows and kicks against another victim earlier in the evening. There are clear videos of both abuses. The maximum sentence for attempted murder is ten years. The final amount of the penalty is determined by the judge.
Unanswered questions for relatives
The relatives of Carlo Heuvelman will have followed the trial until now, because they also want answers, says their lawyer. All their questions remain unanswered so far.
And it’s not just that. A large part of the group of friends also says that the resulting quarrel was provoked by Carlo’s group of friends. And Carlo, according to the suspects, would not have been of impeccable behavior either.
The trial continues on Monday. Next Thursday, the relatives of Carlo Heuvelman will have their say. They have followed the first part of the process in a different place so far.