Childhood friend of convicted crime boss Taghi gets 13 years for two 2014 murders
Jaouad W., a childhood friend of convicted crime boss Ridouan Taghi, was sentenced Monday to 13 years and 8 months in prison. The District Court of Midden-Nederland convicted the 47-year-old for his role in two 2014 targeted killings, Omroep Brabant reports.
W. was found complicit in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Mohammed Alarasi on Jan. 20, 2014, in Amersfoort. He was also convicted in the killing of 68-year-old Rinus Moerer on April 14, 2014, in Steenbergen, Noord-Brabant. The murder of Moerer had remained unsolved for years.
According to the court, W. conducted pre-surveillance and observations in the days before Alarasi’s killing. His DNA was found on bullet casings from that shooting. In the Steenbergen case, W. also observed the victim, receiving location data through a tracking device placed under the man’s car.
The court ruled that W. belonged to a criminal organization that carried out violent assassinations on public roads using semi-automatic weapons.
W. stood trial for five underworld murders between 2011 and 2014. Prosecutors had demanded a life sentence. However, the court acquitted him in three other killings: the murders of Jaap Zillig, 53, and Pieter Vos, 47, both from Wijk en Aalburg, who were shot on Dec. 23, 2011, on a hotel parking lot in Houten. He was also acquitted of the murder of Samir Jabli, 38, in Amersfoort on Dec. 1, 2014. Judges said there was insufficient evidence of W.’s direct involvement in those cases.
He is already serving a 13-year sentence from 2019 for preparing murders in the major 26Koper case, which targeted victims on behalf of an Utrecht-based murder gang linked to Ridouan Taghi
The 26Koper case was a precursor to the Marengo trial, in which Taghi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His appeal is still ongoing.
