Suspect in Rotterdam psychiatrist murder arrested in Amsterdam
Update 10:05 a.m. - Article updated after Bretly D.'s arrest
The police arrested Bretly D., wanted for a fatal shooting in Rotterdam on October 13 and a stabbing in Zutphen on Friday night, at a hotel in Amsterdam at 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday, the Rotterdam police said. The police received a tip at around 8:00 a.m. that the man had been seen, and Amsterdam police arrested him shortly later.
On Tuesday, the police still released new images of D. on Opsporing Verzocht. The images show D. at Amsterdam Central Station on Saturday, wearing a dark jacket with a hood. The police also warned that the man was contacting men via the gay dating app Bullchat.
The police suspect D. of involvement in the death of a 60-year-old psychiatrist in Rotterdam during the early hours of October 13. Firefighters responded to reports of a fire in the victim’s home on Handelsplein and found him severely injured with a gunshot wound inside. He succumbed to his injuries. D. is also suspected of stabbing a 32-year-old man in the victim’s home on Van Hallstraat in Zutphen during the early hours of October 21.
According to the police, D. approached his victims via Bullchat and had personal contact with them at the men’s homes before becoming violent. “He only became aggressive after he got into an argument with the men,” the police said.
D. is still approaching men on Bullchat, the police said, warning people who use the app to be alert and notify the police if they encounter the fugitive there. The police also warned that the man is using public transport a lot.
In recent days, the police searched several homes in Amsterdam-Oost, Arnhem, and in the Doetinchem district of Dichteren. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) offered a 25,000 euros reward for the tip that led to D.’s arrest.
D. was sentenced to juvenile detention in 2015 for stabbing a man in The Hague in 2014 after having sex in the victim’s home. D. was 15 years old at the time. According to the ruling, D. and the victim were having oral sex when the victim felt a prick in his neck. D. told the court that he wanted “pedophile justice” because “my brother and I were abused by a pedophile in the past.”
