On October 18, 2023, police discovered the body of an 84-year-old man at his home in Kampen. His legs were bound with a cord and he had multiple injuries. He died from strangulation and had been lying there for more than a day when found. The entire house and the adjacent office had been thoroughly searched and ransacked by the intruders. However, nothing was stolen. The victim was literally killed for nothing, said the Public Prosecution Service today during the court session where the suspects of this brutal home invasion with a fatal outcome had to account for themselves.
Two months after the fatal incident in Kampen, a second home invasion occurs in Epe, Gelderland, with a similar modus operandi. It shows how ruthless and violent the intruders are: using a crowbar, they force a window open in the middle of the night and head straight to the bedroom. A couple wakes up to find four masked intruders in their bedroom who violently assault the man and woman. This time, 5000 euros are found, and jewelry is taken. The Public Prosecution Service today stated in the Zwolle court: For Mr. and Mrs., there is a life before and a life after December 12, 2023. They literally and figuratively experienced life-threatening fear that night. It is uncertain whether they will ever manage to leave this trauma behind.
The Public Prosecution Service today demands prison sentences of up to 24 years against six suspects for their role in these two home invasions and the manslaughter of the man in Kampen. The prosecutor during the justification of the sentences: These suspects have completely destroyed the lives of others in their blind quest for money. They violently intruded into the lives of unsuspecting people and coldly referred to it as a job. They have caused not only horrific and irreparable suffering but, to the outrage of the bereaved and victims, have provided no transparency.
That there is ruthless behavior is evident, according to the Public Prosecution Service, from the fact that the suspects, on their way back from the first home invasion in Kampen, lament that they have not succeeded and at that moment already start planning the next home invasion.
A now 36-year-old suspect from Kampen is, according to the Public Prosecution Service, the one who planned the two invasions or can be identified as the instigator. He has information about potential victims. From chats and phone records, his coordinating role as planner and task distributor is evident; his business premises in Kampen served as a base of operations. He is not the one who broke into the homes but waited during the home invasion in Kampen with his car at a pre-arranged location near the crime scene. A loaded firearm was also found in his bed. The sentence demanded against him for his complicity in the home invasion with a fatal outcome in Kampen, complicity in the invasion in Epe, and possession of a firearm is 18 years in prison.
In the home in Kampen, DNA traces of three other suspects are found: two 23-year-old men registered in Curaçao (one of whom is later arrested on the Caribbean island) and a 23-year-old man from Rotterdam. According to the Public Prosecution Service, these are the ones who were in the home, overpowered their victim, searched the residence, and left the 84-year-old man strangled and for dead. These three robbers are also accused of qualified manslaughter of the 84-year-old man in Kampen, in addition to complicity in the home invasion with a fatal outcome. Two of these robbers are also involved in the invasion in Epe.
Against these two robbers who are involved in both Kampen and Epe, the Public Prosecution Service demands prison sentences of 23 and 24 years. The third robber who was inside in Kampen (and not involved in Epe) faces a sentence of 18 years. This man fled shortly after the invasion in Kampen to abroad and was later arrested in Curaçao.
A fifth suspect, a now 40-year-old man from Zwolle, is the link between the instigator and the executors in Kampen and Epe. He was in close contact with one of the three robbers involved in both invasions. This fifth suspect had a meeting with the robber(s) prior to both invasions, provided them with information about where the invasion was to take place, and was also in the car in Kampen during the invasion. Against the Zwolle resident, who arranged these guys for the instigator, the Public Prosecution Service demands 16 years for complicity in the home invasion with a fatal outcome in Kampen and complicity in the invasion in Epe.
The 36-year-old man from Kampen and the 40-year-old man from Zwolle remain behind during the invasion in Epe at the business premises in Kampen. In that premises, all suspects gather before the invasion in Epe and return there again after the invasion. A similar pattern was observed during the invasion in Kampen.
A sixth suspect, a 28-year-old Colombian, is also accused of complicity in the invasion in Epe, and against him, the Public Prosecution Service demands 6 years. This suspect also fled (shortly after the invasion in Epe) abroad and was also later arrested in Curaçao.