Life in prison demanded for quadruple murder in Enschede grow shop
The Public Prosecution Service demanded life in prison against father Camil A. and his sons Dejan and Denis from Hengelo. They are accused of murdering four men in a cannabis grow shop on Van Leeuwenhoekstraat in Enschede in 2018.
The victims, two men from Hengelo, one form Arnhem, and one from Enschede, the owner of the grow shop, were shot at close range. "After killing the first victim, the suspects spent some time thinking about what to do with the other people present," the prosecutor said in court, NOS reports. "In the end they were all shot." According to the prosecutor, the four men were "killed like animals".
The motive for the murders remains unclear. The three suspects invoked their right to remain silent during the trial. The main theory is that the killings were drug related - that the father and sons bought cannabis products from the grow shop that they were not satisfied with. But there were also some wilder rumors about the motive.
The victims' relatives asked the court in Almelo to sentence the suspects to life in prison.
"I have lost the most important man in my life," the son of the Arnhem victim told the court, according to RTV Oost. "Living has become survival. And that in the city where I enjoyed studying, living and working. I can no longer live a decent life in that city. I have left Enschede and I'm crying behind the wheel to work daily." The Arnhem man's widow said that she had been sentenced to life "without Max, my life companion, my support and anchor."
"No punishment can ease our pain," the family of he 27-year-old victim from Hengelo said. "These murderous barbarians should also die by the bullet. But the death penalty cannot be imposed, so I ask you to put them in prison for life.
The court will rule on November 6.