Ronald’s shepherd on a leash stops walking at a house at Oosteinde in Berkhout. She wants to hit the trail and pulls on the leash. “No Skeet, come on. Sjaak is no longer there”, the owner says to his dog. More than a year ago, disaster struck for his friend and fellow villager Sjaak Groot (72). He is shot by a gang of robbers. His house has now been inhabited by new people and that is difficult for Ronald to comprehend.
It is the afternoon of June 14 last year when Sjaak is found dead on the ground of his home by a neighbor. It is surrounded by glass and has probably been there for half a day. Around 3:00 am the beloved Berkhouter is ambushed and shot†
According to the judiciary, Sjaak is one of the victims of a gang of robbers who will house in 2020 and 2021 with often older people around Hoorn and Alkmaar. Every time considerable violence was used and the perpetrators seem to have the suspicion that a lot of money is present, with Sjaak it would be a safe.
“If you knew Sjaak, you knew he didn’t have a safe,” said friend and fellow villager Ronald. We stand in front of the house, where he often visited. Or actually in the shed behind his house.
‘Sjaak was a tough man’
They did some odd jobs there, on cars and the like. “He was a spicy man. He didn’t let the cheese eat off his bread. And handy. Very handy. We had known each other since ’87, when he and his wife had a gas station here.”
The fact that the 72-year-old Berkhouter, who lived alone after the death of his partner, lay there for hours on the floor, Ronald is still not feeling well a year later. “If only I had listened to my dog. He wanted to run onto the property with him that morning, but I thought he was gone, or still asleep.”
Watch the entire interview below.
Friend robbed in 1 year after death Sjaak Groot – NH Nieuws
Seven suspects are now in the picture for the fatal robbery on Sjaak: Deniz R. from Obdam, Dut M. from Alkmaar, Ruvieni M. from Rotterdam, a Rotterdam (allegedly M.’s partner), a man from Noord-Scharwoude, and Mark V. from Opmeer.
A seventh suspect from West Friesland is deceased† He would have committed suicide with a gun and after examining that weapon, the police would have tracked down the other suspects.
Supervisor Mark V.
Mark V. became arrested three months ago and had to occur today for the first time. The night before the deadly robbery on Sjaak Groot, he would have gathered with the others in a warehouse in Hoogwoud, according to the judiciary, according to telephone data. He is also linked to a getaway car.
Like a number of other suspects, the judiciary suspects him of the very violent robbery of Sjaak in addition to the fatal robbery of Sjaak. a couple from De Goorn† In August 2020 they were brutally awakened from their sleep and both assaulted by a group of five men. They used crowbars and a pistol.
A number of suspects of the robbery gang – this is how the judiciary sees the group – are also linked to the robbery in North Scharwoude July last year. That is not (yet) the case with Mark V.. However, the public prosecutor stated today that an investigation is still underway, so that there may be more suspicions.
The court will decide today whether V. should remain in prison longer in Zaanstad. The investigation into the robberies is still ongoing and a substantive hearing is not expected until 2023.