Defense wants recusal in Nicole van den Hurk murder case

On Tuesday the defense of the accused Jos de G. from Helmond filed a recusal request against the court in the case about the death and rape of Nicole van den Hurk. Lawyer Job Knoester believes that the court in Den Bosch is not giving him sufficient opportunity to investigate alternative scenarios. He fears that the court is biased, he said. On Tuesday the court ruled that the defense will not get all the old files on the investigation into the death of 15 year old Nicole van den Hurk. Knoester called it an incomprehensible decision. According to him, Nicole van den Hurk was sexually active before her death. She had sex with older

men, was not monogamous, was possibly abused and was possibly even pregnant. According to him, there are more potential suspects and other motifs. Moreover, there is a chance that there was voluntary contact between her and the suspect, he says over possible alternative scenarios. The 15 year old Nicole van den Hurk disappeared in Eindhoven on October 6th, 1995 after she left her grandmother's house to go to her part time job at a supermarket. On November 22nd of that year her body was found in the woods between Mierlo and Lierop, murdered and presumably raped. Jos de G. was arrested in January because his DNA resembles traces found on the body of the murdered girl in 1995. He denies any involvement in the girl's death. The 46 year old De G. has previously been convicted for rape three times. He served various sentences, including prison time and court-ordered detention in a psychiatric facility. His convictions in 1999 and 2001 gave the police the opportunity to match his DNA with other cold cases. He was then connected to and charged with a previously unsolved rape case from 1987. In July the Public Prosecution formally dropped the murder charge against De G. He is now facing a charge of manslaughter. The criminal case against Jos de G. was suspended on Tuesday. It is not yet known when the recusal request will be handled.