New witness in 1995 teen girl’s murder delays closing arguments

The Public Prosecutor has requested that the court in Den Bosch suspend the Nicole van den Hurk murder trial for two weeks after a new witness reported to the police on Tuesday. The witness claims that he heard suspect Jos de G. talk about killing a girl and believes this was Nicole van den Hurk. The court is currently deliberating, NU reports. The Public Prosecutor told the court that he has had an exploratory conversation with the new witness and believes that the statement may be relevant. The two weeks suspension is necessary to investigate the statement further. The Public Prosecutor also believes that there may be a second witness with similar information. De G.'s lawyers are very much set against a suspension. According to them, witnesses showing up at the last moment is a quite common occurrence, and the real question is whether the information from this person is not just coming from the extensive media coverage of the case. Fifteen year old Nicole van den Hurk went missing on October 6th, 1995 somewhere between her grandmother's house and the supermarket where she had a part time job. She was found in the forest between Mierlo and Lierop On November 22nd of that year, raped and murder. De G. was arrested in January 2014 after his DNA matched traces found on the girl's body. De G.'s lawyers questioned the reliability of this DNA match earlier this week in court.