Will the murder of Daniël Hilbrands from Schoonoord still be solved after seventeen years? New anonymous tips have been received by the police. What about the case?
In the case of Daniël Hilbrands, three men were suspected for months: HK from Schoonoord (the now deceased resident of the house where Daniël died), fellow resident JK and AR from Assen.
The police assumed that one of them was the perpetrator and that the knife found in the driveway on the night of the murder was the murder weapon. There was the victim’s blood on it. JK, owner of the knife, is said to have thrown it away as he sat next to the dying Daniel.
Bloody knife
Ten days later, investigators found another knife with the victim’s blood on top of a cupboard in the house. The Dutch Forensic Institute found no usable fingerprints on this knife, which had initially been overlooked. According to the resident’s statements, the knife was lent to the Assenaar AR that day.
Ultimately, only the then 37-year-old man from Assen was brought to trial. He was acquitted on December 12, 2006. Although traces of the victim’s blood were found on his trousers, the judge said it was not established that he was also the one who stabbed Hilbrands to death. Blood smears from two others were also found on his pants.
On appeal, the suspect was once again acquitted by the court in Leeuwarden. The burden of proof was not found convincing enough. According to the court, the suspect was imprisoned innocently for 128 days and therefore received 28,700 euros in compensation.
Acquittal and standstill
AR’s acquittal brought the case to a standstill. According to the police, all leads had been carefully examined and investigated and there were no clues left that could still be examined.
In 2014, Daniël Hilbrands’ family asked for the case to be reopened. According to the relatives, no proper investigation had been conducted and the witnesses had to be interviewed again. They also wanted a reconstruction to be made of Daniël’s fatal last minutes in the house on Hazekampstraat.
The press officer of the Public Prosecution Service then said that it was a difficult case and that the Public Prosecution Service saw no reason to interview the witnesses again after eight years, because memories usually fade with time. The case is now with the cold case team. A new investigation will be conducted if additional information is received.