Suspect in Drenthe double murder says in live video victims often threatened his family

The 50-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting two people in Weiteveen, Drenthe, on Tuesday morning broadcast an explanation live on his Facebook page soon after the incident. Richard K., from nearby Klazienaveen, said the victims repeatedly threatened and harassed his family over a real estate deal from exactly one year ago. However, the brother of one victim said that it was K. who created the situation that spun out of control.

The victims were identified by the Public Prosecution Service as a 38-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman who were living at the scene of the violence. The male victim is from Poland, according to his brother, and the woman was from Haarlem, Noord-Holland. The victims, who have two children, bought the home that had belonged to K.'s parents. Their dissatisfaction with the property led to the ongoing dispute.

In a video reviewed by NL Times, K. was in hysterics. It was believed to have been published moments after the slayings. "I will not allow my son to be killed, my mother to be killed, my wife to be raped. They have threatened me so many times. They always destroy everything in our house. We have done nothing in return, absolutely nothing."

K. is believed to have gone to the home and gunned down the man. The woman then fled by car, but crashed into a tree due to icy conditions on the road. It is being investigated whether K. chased after the car and shot the woman dead.

The victims' two children were attending school at the time of the shooting.

Suspect says police would not investigate constant harassment

In his video, Richard K. went on to claim that the issue was brought to the attention of the police on several occasions. "The police can't do anything. The rule of law won't help you, people" he added. "I love you all so much, I can not let them kill you. If you are just 1 percent a father, then you will stop that from happening," he continued in tears. "So, I will go to jail for the rest of my life…as long as you are safe." He apologized to them, and said repeatedly that he loves them.

K. ended his video telling his Facebook friends and family that he was standing on the street, unarmed, and suggested he would surrender when authorities arrived. He also showed an injury to his hand. Another video shot by passengers of a car showed K. being arrested. A woman tells a man in background audio that she heard three gunshots. As K. speaks to a group of five police officers while handcuffed on a snowy road, three of them take off running from the location of the car crash.

His partner, Ingrid S., also broadcast a video live soon after K. They have two children together. "A year ago, the people who bought a home from Richard have made our life difficult. They said the home is not good. They threatened us, they threatened our children, they threatened our horses, and they provoked us to the core." She continued, saying that they were very upset, but she pleaded with him not to try to get even with them.

"But Richard has gone completely crazy! He went there. And the Pole probably threatened him with a gun or something. I don't know, I wasn't there," she continued. "And then I hear at work that Richard went there, and that he probably shot those people!"

Victim's brother paints a different picture of the feud

The brother of the Polish man told Dagblad van het Noord a completely different story. "They were planning to leave," he told the newspaper. "There was always trouble with a 'crazy neighbor.' He and his wife were already looking for another home. The neighborhood was becoming a less and less pleasant place to live, my brother told my mother."

The two brothers themselves were not in direct contact, though both moved to the Netherlands many years ago. The 41-year-old man lives in IJmuiden but asked that his name be redacted. He said he moved to the Netherlands first more than two decades ago, and his brother arrived soon after. The two both worked in construction.

The two had a falling out, and lost contact, but remained updated via their mother. "My heart is racing," the older brother said about the murders. "There was no contact for a long time, but this is really shocking to me.

Dispute started in September

The younger brother and his wife had lived in Velsen on the opposite side of the Netherlands when they bought K.'s family home exactly one year ago on Tuesday. A real estate agent who helped in the transaction between K. and the couple who bought his parents' home told the Telegraaf that there was indeed a long-running dispute. He said he had tried to mediate the dispute, which was believed to be about the condition of the home, its construction and its upkeep. These were issues which were not immediately known, but which surfaced in the months following the purchase.

The situation reportedly escalated in September. Less than a month after the trouble began, Ingrid S. posted a quote on Facebook attributed to author Pamela Short, writing "The best revenge is none. Heal, move on and don't become like those who hurt you."

"You don't see something like this coming. Sometimes in your career, you deal with a conflict between two parties, but something like this? No, I have not experienced this in 25 years," a realtor associated with the transaction told AD.

But one Weiteveen resident who knew about the conflict said he was saddened, but not surprised. "This was coming," he told the Telegraaf. Others said that K.'s family found shards of glass thrown into the pasture where they kept their animals, and that their horses were set loose.

K. was considered a good neighbor when he lived in Weiteveen. Even after moving, he still returned weekly to help mow the verges along the roads. He was the type of man who was quiet, and polite. "The last person you would expect to do an something like this," a neighbor told RTV Drenthe.

"That man was goodness itself. As a neighborhood we should simply stand behind him," another said.

Police have only confirmed that the two people died as the result of a violent incident on Bargerweg, and that one was found in a home and the other inside a car.