Prosecutors recommend life in prison against man accused of double murder in Weiteveen

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended a life sentence against 51-year-old Richard K. on Thursday at the court in Assen for the double murder in Weiteveen, Drenthe, on January 16 last year. K. shot the 44-year-old Ineke in her car shortly before murdering 38-year-old Sam in and by his house on the Bargerweg.

The Prosecutor said that the murders were nothing more than a planned slaughter and described the scene as “a massacre."

The double murder was a gruesome ending to an argument that K. had with both victims about the house that they had bought from him a year earlier. A series of incidents led to the murders.

"An extremely cowardly act,” the prosecutor said about the murders. He also noted that K. is taking no responsibility for the murders. “He isn’t saying: ‘I did it, but it has happened now.’ He is completely ignoring his role in the conflict. Shameless. If he has any regret, it’s that his family and friends have to experience this.”

The prosecutor also took into account that Sam was killed in front of his 12-year-old son. K. went to Sam’s home after the murder of Ineke and lied, saying that the woman had an accident.

Sam’s son opened the door, which was followed by K. bursting into the home and shooting Sam while he was lying on the bed. The victim ran outside, severely wounded by bullets and stabbings. K. then followed him “like a hunter” to “finish the job.” The suspect smashed his firearm due to the many blows to Sam's head.

The OM thinks there is enough evidence to suggest this was premeditated and is, therefore, murder. K. had turned off the cameras that were filming the victim's driveway in the early morning hours. After this, he blocked Ineke's car on the Bargerweg shortly after she had brought her nine-year-old daughter to school and stepped towards her holding a revolver.

Ineke filmed the fatal confrontation on her phone. The images show the glass of the car door shattering, leading to her dropping the phone. K. already had a firearm and a knife in his car at this time, which he used shortly after to kill Sam.

"K. had a choice and chose the unforgivable option," the prosecutor stated. "He chose to take matters into his own hands and made two children orphans in the most gruesome way."

The suspect's lawyer, Justus Reisinger, disagrees with the prosecutor's notion that the deaths were premeditated. He asked that the court not go along with the prosecutor's wishes as there is insufficent evidence to support the claim.

Reisinger said in the hearing that K. had gotten annoyed by Ineke's repeated honking of the horn. He claims that Sam's death was the result of a fight and not an execution, as the prosecutor claimed.