Crime reporter De Vries was shot in the center of Amsterdam on 6 July last year, nine days later he succumbed to his injuries. Less than an hour after the attack, the police arrested the two suspects in their car on the highway. Both the suspected gunman, Delano G. (22), and Kamil E. (36), who would have carried out preliminary reconnaissance and had been the driver of the getaway car, were present in the room on Wednesday.
The OM sees ‘overwhelming’ evidence that the two men murdered De Vries with ‘premeditation’ and therefore demanded a life sentence for both Delano G. and Kamil E.. ‘Both suspects had the opportunity to think about the meaning and consequences of their act’, the public prosecutor motivated the highest possible sentence last week.
The very extensive list of evidence includes the murder weapon, which was found in the getaway car. The detective found DNA material on the weapon. Last week, the Public Prosecution Service also released camera images showing the suspects around the crime scene and incriminating message traffic between suspect Delano G. and an unknown contact person. ‘He is dead,’ wrote G., among other things.
‘No fair trial’
G.’s lawyers went into detail on the evidence provided on Wednesday. Ronald van der Horst, one of G.’s lawyers, believes that the suspected shooter will not receive a fair trial because the criminal file has been anonymized. For security reasons, the Public Prosecution Service has removed almost all names of witnesses, detectives and forensic experts from the file. According to Van der Horst, the possibilities for the accused to defend themselves are therefore enormously limited.
In addition, Van der Horst discussed the statement of the Public Prosecution Service that G. knew who Peter R. de Vries was prior to the attack. There is “no evidence at all” for that, the lawyer said. The defense sees no direct evidence that G. is the shooter anyway. “Camera images do not show him shooting anyone and there are no witnesses who say he did.”
G.’s defense also discussed the life sentence demanded by the Public Prosecution Service. Lawyer Anique Slijters thinks the requirement is much too high. “It is incomprehensible why a 21-year-old who commits a single murder is now punished more severely than someone who shot three people in a cafe,” said Slijters.
acquittal
The defense of Kamil E. asked the judge for acquittal. The suspect admitted that he was the driver of the car that Delano G. was in on the day in question, but he said he did not know what the ride was intended for. The Public Prosecution Service thinks that the role of E. is much larger than he makes out and sees him as a ‘full co-perpetrator’ of the murder.
According to his lawyers, it is also not true that E. was in the center in the days before the murder to prepare the attack. The Public Prosecution Service has supported that claim with the location that his mobile phone passed on that period. “In the view of the Public Prosecution Service, his single presence in Amsterdam is equivalent to a preliminary reconnaissance, regardless of times and location and the presence of Peter R. de Vries,” said Ayse Cimen, one of E.’s lawyers. According to her, the suspect was in Amsterdam but only as an ‘ardent gambler’.
‘No trace of remorse’
Prior to the defense’s plea, Tahmina Akefi, who had a relationship with him until De Vries’ death, made use of her right to speak. “I have seen no sign of remorse in these killers,” she said in court on Wednesday morning. Akefi indicated at the beginning of the hearing that she did not feel the need to look at the suspects during her story.
At the end of her story, Akefi did address Delano G. directly. She called the contempt the suspected shooter showed by invoking his right to remain silent “shocking.” “Any idiot can pull the trigger,” Akefi said. ‘But to talk, it takes guts’. She said that the camera images shown last week showing Peter R. de Vries being chased were very confronting for her. “Not just to see Peter walk, but how his death was being prepared by these two.”
De Vries’s partner wants compensation of almost 62 thousand euros from the suspects. That amount is mainly for intangible shock damage and emotional damage and partly to compensate for the costs incurred for her personal security, among other things.
Today is the second day of session. The judge will deliver the verdict on July 14.