Father, sons convicted for Enschede quadruple murder; Life behind bars

Camil A. and his sons Dejan and Denis were convicted of murdering four men in a cannabis grow shop in Enschede nearly two years ago. The court in Almelo gave the 59-year-old and his sons, aged 34 and 32, life sentences for the crimes, and ordered them to pay about 877 thousand euros in damages.

The victims, including the owner of the shop from Enschede, two men from Hengelo and another from Arnhem were found inside the shop on Van Leeuwenhoekstraat in November 2018 after having been shot at close range. The court said it believed they were executed.

"Without a shred of compassion they shot the hopeless and defenseless victims several times in the head," the court said in a statement. In its ruling, it pointed to a mountain of damning evidence that it said proved the three men carried out the crime together.

"Camera images, telephonic data of suspects, victims and witnesses, witness statements, traces at the crime scene, DNA traces in the car of the suspects and on the ammunition show that these three men are jointly responsible for the murders." The court dismissed any notion that it was a sudden incident, calling it "premeditated" and in cold blood.

There was no clarity around the motive, though there was some speculation that the murders happened when the suspects bought substandard products from the shop. A rumor revealed last year suggested that the crimes were a form of revenge over the deaths of a Mexican woman's four-year-old daughter and also the woman's twin brother.

The court noted that the three alleged offenders easily restarted their normal lives "as if nothing had happened," and in refusing to speak in court have left the next of kin "in great upheaval" and with "countless unanswered questions.

"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. "In the end they were all shot." Prosecutors had also asked for a life sentence.

"No punishment can ease our pain," the family of he 27-year-old victim from Hengelo said in court during the trial. "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.

Camil A. and Dejan A. were also convicted separately in a violent armed robbery in Hengelo a week before the quadruple murders. Additionally, a 40-year-old woman was convicted and sentenced to 14 months in prison for connecting the shooters to a 34-year-old St. Willebrord man in an arms deal.

He was convicted of weapons possession and sentenced to 11 months behind bars. He and his 73-year-old father were both acquitted of complicity in the quadruple homicide due to lack of evidence.