Son could face 20 years in prison for father's murder

The Public Prosecutor demanded 20 years in prison against a 41-year-old man for the murder of his father Bart Hillen from Helmond. According to the Prosecutor, the suspect violently killed his father, purely for financial gain, before dumping his body in the Zuid-Willemsvaart in Helmond, AD reports

Evidence against the 41-year-old man includes suspicious search terms found on his found. These include terms like 'poison without traces', 'weighing down a body' and 'stabbing without blood traces'. The hearing also revealed that Bart Hillen was hit hard with a blunt object from behind. Blood stains were found in his bedroom. The victim was still wearing his pajamas when the body was found in the Zuid-Willemsvaart in May last year. 

The suspect reacted furiously to the accusations made against him in court, according to the newspaper. The suspect describes himself as someone who is always ready to help others and moved out of his parental home at the age 15 due to problems at home. He claims he never googled the terms listed in his summons. According to him, he had just been released from jail at the time and did not use the phone at all. 

An anonymous letter was sent to the authorities claiming that the 41-year-old man was not responsible for the murder of his father. According to the letter, the perpetrators are two criminal brothers and their sister and Hillen fell victim to an online dating scam. The sister arranged appointments with single men on online dating sites, and the brothers then went to rob the men, the anonymous letter writer claimed. Their scheme worked out well twice, but while trying to rob Hillen there was a confrontation and the 67-year-old man fell from the window and died, according to the letter.

The Public Prosecutor does not believe a word of the letter. According to the Prosecutor, all evidence point to Hillen's son being the perpetrator.