Mallorca fatal assault suspect may have implicated himself on Telegram: Report
One of the suspects in two brawls in Mallorca last year, one of which resulted in the death of Carlo Heuvelman, implicated himself in the nightlife violence in voice messages the police intercepted in another investigation. Lukas O. spoke about his role in what the police believe were the two fights between Dutch tourists on the Spanish island during the early hours of 14 July 2021, NU.nl reports.
Lukas O. sent the implicating messages a few days after the fights. In one message sent on Telegram, O. said: “A few guys were just very stupid. They just kicked that guy into a coma, and luckily I didn’t do that.”
In another message, he said: “Yeah, I think I gave that guy two kids or something, But that was just… I just gave two kicks or something, but that was just while the guy was still standing. While they were still fighting back, so to speak.” It is unclear who O. means by “that guy” in this message and whether it is the same “guy” he said other guys kicked into a coma.
The only person who ended up in a coma as a result of the Mallorca brawls was Carlo Heuvelman. He died in the hospital of a brain injury four days later. O. is not suspected of involvement in Heuvelman’s death.
Lukas O. sent the messages to Kyle B., a suspect in a cybercrime investigation. The police intercepted the messages while investigating Kyle B. for allegedly selling hacked Zalando and Bol.com accounts to third parties. O. is also a suspect in this cybercrime case, but the authorities have not yet decided whether he will be prosecuted for it.
In the Mallorca case, O. is suspected of attempted manslaughter on one of Heuvelman’s friends in the first brawl in front of the bar De Zaak. Heuvelman got fatally hurt in the second brawl in front of bar De Bierexpress. O. is suspected of public violence for the second brawl but not of involvement in Heuvelman’s death.
According to NU.nl, the court would have liked to ask Lukas O. about the messages, but he invoked his right to remain silent during his hearing on October 6. His lawyer Joost Vedder told NU.nl that O. decided to stay silent after the Public Prosecution Service had co-defendant Martijn T. arrested for perjury - lying under oath. T.’s hearing happened just before O.’s, and he was nervous about getting more charges thrown at him.
Vedder told the newspaper that the messages it attributed to his client and their context clearly show that his client did not kick and or hit Heuvelman, nor does he know who did. “The messages were also discussed during the extensive interrogations with the police and with the examining magistrate,” Vedder said. “It is, therefore, not the case that my client refused to explain anything in this case.”
