British tourist stabbed to death in Amsterdam seen walking with suspect

Security cameras caught images of British tourist Danny Castledine with the man accused of murdering him with extreme violence in the overnight period from 31 May to 1 June. The 22-year-old was walking with the suspect on the Koggestraat in the city center in the middle of the night.

Castledine was found seriously injured later that night on the Singel, a little further away. He died at the scene after unsuccessful attempts to revive him. An autopsy of the victim's body revealed that Castledine had been stabbed thirty times in the neck and head.

A first preliminary hearing into the case against the suspect, 22-year-old Nongo B. from Belgium, was held at the court in Amsterdam. He was arrested on 1 June around 10:30 am in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert. At that time, B. was in a disturbed state, according to the public prosecutor.

His clothes and shoes were covered in blood. The investigation showed that the blood was Castledine's. Cameras on the Singel recorded the attack on Castledine, although the images were not clear enough to recognize those on screen. It is clear that B. departed from the scene of the crime. Shoe prints were found there that match B.'s shoes.

No motive is known at this time. B.'s lawyer, Hilje Plantenga, did not want to say whether B. confessed, and would not say if B. denied being the perpetrator. The man said he was willing to cooperate with a personality test. He is on the waiting list for the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (NIFP), which is struggling with a lack of capacity.

For now, Castledine seems to have been a completely random victim. Relatives of the student tried to follow the hearing via a video link organized between a British police station and the Amsterdam court. Persistent technical problems at the court threw a spanner in the works.

The next court session will be held on 3 November.