According to the OM there is ‘overwhelming’ evidence that the suspects murdered the crime reporter with ‘premeditation’. “Both suspects had the opportunity to think about the meaning and consequences of their act,” said the public prosecutor. The Public Prosecution Service sees no reason to moderate the sentence, partly because ‘financial gain’ was the only motivation for the murder.
De Vries was shot on July 6 last year in the center of Amsterdam, near the studio of the TV program RTL Boulevard, where he had recently been a guest on the broadcast. Nine days later, the crime reporter succumbed to his injuries.
Less than an hour after the attack, the police stopped the two suspects at an exit on the A4. In the getaway car, officers found, among other things, the converted emergency pistol with which De Vries was shot. The suspects were also in possession of a telephone with which they communicated about the murder with an unknown person.
DNA suspect was on cartridge holder in getaway car
According to the OM, the suspected shooter is Delano G. (22) from Tiel. A cartridge holder with his DNA on it was found in the getaway car. The other suspect, Kamil E. (36) from Maurik, has carried out preliminary reconnaissance in the vicinity of the attack, according to justice and is said to be the driver of the getaway car. During the last preliminary hearing on Monday, the court ruled that both suspects must be present at the substantive criminal trial.
In the courtroom, the suspects were presented with a long list of evidence and witness statements. For example, the Public Prosecution Service came up with message traffic between G. and the unknown contact person. G. was sent a screenshot of the broadcast of . before the attack RTL Boulevard on which Peter R. de Vries can be seen. After the murder, messages followed back and forth. ‘He is dead,’ wrote G., among other things.
Kamil E. would have been preparing for the murder since June 22, 2021, according to the Public Prosecution Service. The suspect’s telephone was, as was the case on the following days, in the vicinity of the Amsterdam studio of RTL Boulevard† Because E. was involved in the preliminary reconnaissance, according to the Public Prosecution Service, he must have known for weeks who the target of the attack was.
Daughter of De Vries leaves court with images of murder
During the hearing, the Public Prosecution Service showed images of the moment when the perpetrator approaches De Vries from behind near a parking garage on Lange Leidsedwarsstraat. Daughter Kelly de Vries briefly left the room because she did not want to see how her father was killed. At the start of the hearing, the presiding judge had already warned that the trial could be shocking for those present.
G. did not want to comment on the allegations during the hearing and invoked his right to remain silent. E. again denied knowing anything about the murder. “I was just the driver,” he said. Shortly afterwards, E. claimed that on the day of the murder, a third man drove with G. and him from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. In previous statements, E. had not talked about this man. According to E., this man, who would also be Polish, had got out in Amsterdam after G.: he ‘had to do something’. Camera images show nothing of a possible third suspect. The Public Prosecution Service called E.’s statement ‘total nonsense’.
The Public Prosecution Service assumes that the murder of De Vries is related to his role as adviser and confidant of Nabil B., the key witness in the Marengo liquidation process, around the main suspect Ridouan T. In 2018, B.’s brother Reduan was shot dead, in 2019 his lawyer Derk Wiersum. The investigation into the originators of these murders is still ongoing. The executors have been caught and tried. The Wiersum case is still on appeal.
Children De Vries took the floor during the session
The children of Peter R. de Vries also took the floor during the hearing. “I am convinced that if these suspects had asked for help from my father that night, he would have given them help,” said son Royce. “They pulled the trigger instead.”
At the request of Royce and daughter Kelly, Delano G. and Kamil E. looked at them as they made their statement. Kelly addressed the suspects directly: “Delano, I look at you the way you dared not look at my father when you shot him from behind.” The suspects’ children will also suffer the consequences of the murder for the rest of their lives, Kelly said. “My father will forever go down in the history books, just like you. But they will write about my father that he was a hero.’
Royce did not turn to the suspects during his story, but to the court. “Initially I wanted to address the suspects, express my sadness and anger or strike a chord with them,” he said. ‘But now I know that it’s completely pointless. Words have no effect.’ He therefore told how wonderful De Vries was for him and his family.
De Vries’s partner will use her right to speak during the hearing next Wednesday. Then the pleas of the lawyers of the suspects are also on the program.