1998 murder suspect was prepared to hide in the wild, Spanish police say

Jos B., the man suspected of killing 11-year-old Nicky Verstappen in 1998, had a survival kit with which he could survive in the wild with him when he was caught in Spain on Sunday. "He was prepared to sleep in caves, had a lot of prepared food, fishing tackle and a book about edible plants", inspector Antonio Navarro Acevedo from the Barcelona police told the Telegraaf.

B. also had a water filter and maps that indicated he was heading to northeastern Spain. "Catalonia has a lot of forests. He could have hidden there for a long time" Acevedo said. "The case surprised me. Normally it involves people who hide in cities with false papers. This man wanted to disappear in a different way."

The 55-year-old man from Simpelveld was arrested near Barcelona on Sunday. According to the inspector, B. did not see his arrest coming and did not resist the police when they caught him. He was more surprised than anything else. "He felt safe in this area, because it is a mountain area, close to a village. He could easily have disappeared.

B. agreed to be extradited to the Netherlands in an accelerated procedure.