Neighbors express support for Drenthe double suspect ahead of Friday arraignment

Richard K., the 50-year-old man suspected of killing two people in the Drenthe village of Weiteveen on Tuesday over a long-ongoing conflict about a house they bought from him, will face a remand hearing on Friday, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) said. At this hearing, the examining magistrate will determine whether K. will stay in pre-trial custody. K.’s neighbors expressed support for him.

The victims were a 44-year-old man and 38-year-old woman, a married couple, and parents to two primary-school-aged children. According to K., neighbors, and an involved realtor, the victims bought K.’s parental home in Weiteveen from him a year ago on Tuesday. They were dissatisfied with the home’s condition and have been in a long-ongoing dispute on the matter.

Shortly after the violent incident that left the couple dead, K. posted a video online in which he emotionally said that something terrible had happened and that he acted out of desperation. According to K., the victims had been threatening and harassing him and his family for a year, and he was trying to protect his loved ones.

The male victim’s brother told Dagblad van het Noorden that his brother and sister-in-law were looking for somewhere else to live. "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."

K. and his family live in nearby Klazienaveen. Several locals were aware that K. and his family were having problems with the buyers of their house, they told AD. Neighbor Helmut Sulmann told the newspaper that the situation was devastating to all the children involved - the victims’ two children growing up without their parents, and K.’s two children growing up with their father likely in prison. “But still,” Sulmann said after watching K.’s video. “I might have done exactly the same thing in such a situation.”

Another neighbor also knew about issues, saying that K.’s gate was vandalized once, and someone pushed his haybales into a ditch. He didn’t know about the threats, but he also showed understanding. “It’s such a shame that it had to come to this. But if you are apparently so seriously threatened, I can imagine that you no longer know what to do. I can imagine that someone will get to that point.”