Drents Museum heist trial starts: Three men accused of stealing Romanian treasures
Today, the trial against three suspects accused of stealing Romanian treasures from the Drents Museum starts in the court in Assen. Douglas W., Bernhard, Z., and Jan B. are on trial for the heist. A fourth suspect, who allegedly stole the license plates later found on the getaway car, will stand trial later this year.
In January 2025, the three suspects used a powerful firework bomb to blow open the door of the museum in Assen and forced their way inside. They made off with the golden helmet of Cotofenesti and three gold bracelets, which were on loan to the Drents Museum from Romania for an exhibition.
Several suspects were arrested not long after the heist, but the treasures remained missing for over 14 months. The Dutch authorities pulled out all the stops to find the stolen artifacts, including using undercover agents against one of the suspects and offering a reward of €250,000 for information that leads to their whereabouts.
In early April, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) announced that authorities had recovered the helmet and two of the three bracelets after reaching a deal with two of the suspects.
The deal was made with Douglas W. and Jan B. Bernhard Z.’s lawyer said on Saturday that he made no deal and denies all involvement in the theft. The OM did not say what the deal with the other two suspects entailed. That will likely become clear during today’s hearing.
Today, the court will also examine the facts and the personal circumstances of the suspects. The court set several days aside for this trial.
The robbery hit both the Netherlands and Romania like a bomb. The Dutch government was on the hook for €5.7 million in insurance money if the treasures were not recovered. The Drents Museum suffered some €250,000 in damages from the robbery. Experts had warned the Dutch museum ahead of time that the glass case protecting the helmet was not strong enough.
The Romanian government criticized the Netherlands and fired the director of the National Historical Museum in Bucharest for failing to adequately protect the national heritage.
