At the time of the murder of Heerlenaar Frank van der Schrier (51) suspect Zouo ‘Tom’ A. was still on probation for a house burglary. This became apparent today during a session at the court in Maastricht.
Zouo is suspected of shooting Van der Schrier on November 13 of last year. The victim was shot several times in his home on Elandstraat in Heerlense Vrieheidepark. He died a few hours later from his injuries. It is still unclear what led to the deadly shooting. The suspect has not yet made a statement about this, but announced during the pro forma hearing on Wednesday that he would still do so.
Also read: Germany hands over murder suspect Heerlen to the Netherlands
Research
It also became clear that the suspect will be admitted to the Pieter Baan Center for a psychiatric examination in May. Only then can the case be dealt with substantively. The suspect was present at the hearing on Wednesday, but did not want to say anything at the time.
Probation
Zouo A. was still on probation for three years because of a home burglary. He was sentenced to three months in prison for that offense in 2019. This resulted in another conviction on his already extensive criminal record. At the age of 16, for example, Zouo received three years in prison and TBS for the murder of shopkeeper Huib Krooder in Amstelveen. The victim was mugged in his business and died as a result of the violence used. Zouo had already served the sentence for this offense and the TBS process had also ended. His list of offenses also includes three robberies.
International search list
Now the 30-year-old Heerlenaar is again a suspect in a murder file. After the murder in November last year, the detectives quickly spotted him, but were unable to arrest him. That is why an international search warrant followed, in which the name and photo were distributed. The police does not do this quickly and is only allowed if the investigative services have serious reasons to do so, for example the fear that someone will commit a serious crime again. In the end, Zouo A. was arrested in Germany in December and handed over to the Netherlands. He has been behind bars in Sittard ever since.