The trial of the murder of Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries has to be repeated for procedural reasons. That was decided by the criminal court in Amsterdam on Thursday.
Shortly before the planned verdict, new evidence emerged about who might have commissioned the murder. The hearing of evidence was then reopened. But then a judge had to be replaced. According to the procedural rules, the process must therefore be repeated.
The prominent TV reporter was shot dead in the middle of Amsterdam last year. He died later from his injuries. The murder had shocked the country badly. The suspected shooter and the driver of the getaway car were quickly arrested. In the trial, prosecutors had asked for life imprisonment against both of them.
In the meantime, three other people have been arrested during the investigation into the clients. There is evidence that notorious criminal Ridouan Taghi’s drug gang is behind the murder. The reporter was the confidant of a key witness who testified in the extensive criminal trial against Taghi and 16 accomplices. The brother and the defense attorney of the key witness had already been murdered.