The group of Gooise young people who were sentenced a year ago to prison terms of up to seven years for serious assaults on the Spanish island of Mallorca will be back in court from tomorrow: their appeal will start. They will have to answer to the court again about the case in the coming weeks. The most important question: will the second suspect in the death of Carlo Heuvelman finally stand up? Here’s what you need to know about the case.
The severe abuse and eventual death of Carlo Heuvelman caused a major shock wave two summers ago. The suspects: a group of boys from Hilversum, who also allegedly dealt a few blows earlier in the evening.
The group was in Mallorca for what was supposed to be a carefree sun holiday with friends. They have just completed their final exams. The holidays should therefore primarily be a celebration, as the end of secondary school.
How the boys spent their holiday before the fatal assault is anyone’s guess, but there is something to imagine: hanging out on the beach, sunbathing, swimming, cooling off with a cold beer and in the evening – like many peers on the Spanish island – out and about.
Hard blows for a café
The evening of Wednesday, July 14, should also be a night out, but the party atmosphere quickly turns grim when the boys enter café De Zaak on the boulevard of the El Arenal seaside resort. Eyewitnesses later told NH News. There is some pushing and pulling during a fight over chairs.
Things go wrong in front of the café when the boys come to blows with another group of young people. There are several casualties, with someone being kicked in the head by one of the boys. Four others are also injured. The injuries are obvious: one has a broken nose, the other a displaced cervical vertebra.
Fights on the boulevard
The violence then continues when the group of boys, about two hundred meters away, on the town’s boulevard, come to blows again. On the street, near the café-bar Bier-Express, the group gets into a fight with another group of friends. There is kicking and hitting back and forth. One of the victims is kicked hard again on the ground.
Across the street, a boy also falls to the ground after receiving a few hard blows and kicks. It concerns 27-year-old Carlo Heuvelman. Bystanders later say that he wanted to calm the argument that had arisen, but that he could not escape the violence. Carlo then lies motionless.
Some bystanders run over to help him, the police and the ambulance are called. Carlo is rushed to the hospital. The blows and kicks proved fatal a few days later: he died as a result of the violence.
Good boys rushing home
The suspects board the plane home the next morning – earlier than planned – allegedly out of fear of the tightened corona measures. They want to return safely so that they can still go on holiday with their family. Yet they also have concerns about the violence and especially its consequences.
Their quick flight home ensures that they remain out of the hands of the Spanish police, who immediately start an investigation after the violence. The nine young people from Gooise are quickly identified as suspects, but can no longer be arrested. That only happens a few weeks later, when the Spanish police investigation is transferred to the Dutch authorities.
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The case has now caused a wave of outrage. A witch hunt for the boys even ensues – just before suspects are arrested. Their names and photos circulate rapidly on social media, and addresses are even shared. It goes so far that the justice department feels compelled to call on people to stop sharing all the wild stories.
Nine suspects, eight sentences
The Dutch police arrested nine suspects in the following weeks, all Hilversum residents aged eighteen and nineteen. Three of them are seen by the judiciary as main suspects.
Hilversummer Sanil B. is suspected by the judiciary of complicity in manslaughter and twice attempted manslaughter, because he kicked victims in the head both in front of the café and on the boulevard. It earned him the harshest prison sentence a year ago: seven years. Sanil B. has been in prison since his conviction.
Two other boys have also been suspected for a long time of their involvement in the manslaughter of Carlo Heuvelman. Hein B. and Most. are also suspected of (twice) attempted manslaughter. They are ultimately not convicted of the manslaughter of Carlo Heuvelman, due to lack of evidence. They get 2.5 years in prison for the other cases. However, they are free pending their appeal.
Two other guys of the group of friends are also sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Daan van S. and Kaan B. are convicted of attempted manslaughter because they severely abused a boy in the café. Later they committed open violence. The fact that they receive a relatively heavy sentence is because the judge wants to punish the group as a whole more severely. Not only because they committed violence together, but also because until now they have always remained silent about what exactly happened.
From the rest of the group Lukas O. sentenced to 1.5 years in prison. He was suspected for a while of involvement in the death of Carlo Heuvelman, but that suspicion was later withdrawn. He is suspected of complicity in attempted manslaughter and public violence. Stan F. is sentenced to a year in prison, Lars van den H. receives community service and suspect Martijn T. is acquitted.
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Carlo’s manslaughter
The entire lawsuit is of course mainly about the death of Carlo Heuvelman. Not only the most serious fact, but also the most mysterious fact until now. The consequences of the events are certain, but it was never clear who exactly was involved.
According to the judge, it has been established that two young people from the group were involved in the death of Carlo Heuvelman, of which Sanil B. was ultimately also convicted. The second suspect cannot be identified.
Why? Much of the violence is video footage, taken by bystanders or security cameras. There are no images of the manslaughter of Carlo Heuvelman. The images could be crucial in the investigation into the violence and the conviction of the suspects. In the months before the trial, the justice department did everything it could to unearth such images, but to no avail.
The evidences
Why is Sanil B. convicted of the manslaughter of Carlo? There is no convincing evidence from him either. But he does have the appearance against him because of the DNA traces of Carlo Heuvelman found on his shoe. That trail was found after the young Hilversumer himself gave his outfit from the evening in question to the police upon his arrest.
Although that trace is small and there are doubts about how exactly it is on Sanil’s shoe. B has ended up, it is – in addition to a defective witness examination by an expert and some other statements – the evidence on which Sanil. B is ultimately convicted for involvement in Carlo’s death.
Sanil. B ultimately appeals, which six other suspects and the justice department also do.
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What will happen in the coming weeks?
The appeal is actually relatively simple: the entire lawsuit from a year ago is redone. The entire matter will be discussed from start to finish on Monday and Tuesday, personal circumstances will be discussed on Thursday and the relatives will be allowed to speak on Friday.
Another important day is next Wednesday: that is when the Public Prosecution Service will take the floor. This ultimately leads to criminal demands for the suspects. This will be discussed further in the following two weeks. The decision on the appeal will not be made until next spring.
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The penalties
Then the punishments. Naturally, all parties have a different reason for appealing. In this way, the suspects will hope for less severe sentences. Main suspect Sanil B. is still convinced that he was not involved in the death of Carlo Heuvelman and will do everything he can to get away with a lower sentence.
It is certain that he will have to go to jail: he has confessed to the other attempted manslaughter for which he was convicted. That’s not surprising: that abuse is on a video.
The public prosecutor enters the court with a completely different purpose. Justice not only wants heavier sentences for those involved in the death of Carlo Heuvelman, but will also want to uncover the truth once and for all. It will of course be about the role of main suspect Sanil B. and the evidence against him, but it will also be about the important question: who is the second person involved.
The expectation
Will that become clear in the coming weeks? That is of course looking at coffee grounds. The hope is that the group will finally explain clearly what exactly happened to Carlo Heuvelman that evening. Perhaps different suspects point out each other because they may feel that they have been punished too severely for something they did not do. Or perhaps they will come up with incriminating evidence against the others.
Is that a real chance? That is also the question. The group has remained tight-lipped for more than two years so far.
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