Suspect used unlicensed guns in Drenthe double murder; Experts question police handling

While sports shooter and hunter Richard K. had a license for several firearms, he did not have a permit for the guns he used to kill two people in Weiteveen earlier this month, AD reports. According to the newspaper, the man deliberately concealed the possession of these more dangerous pistols from the regional police chief.

The police and Public Prosecution Service (OM) would not comment to AD whether K. would also be prosecuted for illegal firearm possession, in addition to premeditated murder. The man will appear in court for another pre-trial hearing on Wednesday. More information may emerge in that hearing.

Two weeks ago, Richard K. shot and killed the buyers of his parental home in the Drenthe village of Weiteveen and then posted a video on social media claiming he did so for fear of his family’s safety. K. was in conflict with victims Przemyslaw "Sam" Czerniawski (38) and Ineke Mussche (44) about the condition of the house. The conflict had been raging for a year until, on January 16th, K. shot and killed Ineke in her car in front of the house and then her husband inside the home in the presence of their 12-year-old son.

With his hunting license, K. was allowed to keep a maximum of six hunting weapons. The police were aware of these firearms. But they did not know about the guns he used in the double homicide, according to AD.

Dutch people who want to legally own firearms must be of impeccable conduct and show that “they can be entrusted with a weapon.” Even slight doubt about someone’s mental state is enough to revoke a firearm license.

Legal experts are, therefore, amazed that K. still had his hunting license after a year of incidents between him and the buyers of his parental home, including multiple reports of threats and death threats from both sides. Two days before the murders, Sam and K. got into an altercation, and the police ended up taking Sam to the police station. There, Sam told the police that he worried K. would kill him one day, according to AD.

That is a crucial detail, lawyer Geert-Jan van Oosten, who specializes in weapons permits, told the newspaper. “All things considered, you can cautiously draw the conclusion that supervision here appears to have been inadequate. The reports must have been nonsensical or too meaningless, but I wonder. The fact remains that if a license holder is possibly unstable, the weapons are usually secured. It’s that simple.”

Judicial weapons expert Jas van Driel agrees. “If there is something very serious going on, such as a serious crime or persistent incidents, then immediate action is typically taken,” he told AD. “For smaller matters, the police first talk to the person in question. These are often informal meetings, with the aim of seeing how someone is doing.” It is unclear whether the police had such a conversation with K.