Van den Hurk murder suspect a repeat offender

A 46-year-old man, who was arrested in Helmond, Friday, for the murder of Nicole van den Hurk, has been convicted twice before for rape and assault of women.

The suspect was sentenced to 3 years preventive detention and compulsory treatment in 2001, for the violent rape of a 20-year-old victim, reported the Eindhovens Dagblad.

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After his conviction his DNA led to another rape case from 1987.

The man served his sentence in the Rooyse Wissel clinic in Venray, after which he spent some time in critical care and a home for assisted living. His apartment in Helmond was the last step in his process of rehabilitation into society.

The suspect, who's neighbors described him as "quiet, friendly, but withdrawn," was arrested in his apartment Friday, after the police found a DNA-match with the traces left on 15-year-old Nicole's body.

Van den Hurk disappeared in October of 1995, when she was on her way from her grandmother's house to her job at a supermarket one early morning. Her body was found six weeks later in a forest between Mierlo and Lierop.