Alleged teen hitman remains silent in trial for Amstelveen assassination

During his trial, the 17-year-old Amsterdam teen F.M. remained silent about the murder-for-hire he allegedly committed on December 22 last year. The victim was 56-year-old Itzhak Meiri from Almere. He was gunned down on Wieringerstraat in Amstelveen as he was walking to his parked car after a visit to the dentist. Meiri was hit by three bullets and succumbed to his injuries in the hospital shortly after the attack.

A day after the murder, the police arrested the 20-year-old Jesus T.A. from Amsterdam. He was driving around in the rented car allegedly used in the murder. In January, the police arrested F.M. He was just 16 years old when he allegedly accepted money for Meiri’s murder and shot him in cold blood. The trial against the two is taking place in Amsterdam on Tuesday and Thursday.

At an earlier introductory hearing, the court ruled that the two suspects must stand trial together. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), they worked together very closely in the preparation for and execution of the assassination. Minors are generally not tried in public, but the court found an exception necessary in this case. Only M.’s personal circumstances were discussed behind closed doors. His parents followed the lawsuit through a video link in another room.

The boy did not say a word about the violent events and seem to pass through the hearing unmoved. He did write raps about the murder and recorded them on his phone, the OM said. The court played the recordings in court on Tuesday. M. raps, among other things, that the victim has been “erased from the list” and that he himself is “most wanted.”

According to the OM, Meiri was on a hit list. He had long been known in the Amsterdam underworld and was sentenced to years in prison for extortion in the past. The suspects allegedly followed him for some time, including via a bug taped under his car.

T.A. confessed in a police interrogation in July. He repeated on Tuesday that he was approached by someone named Bulldog via Snapchat for the murder. For the rest, he does not want to say anything about the background, the people who hired them, or their remuneration. He also did not ever mention F.M. by name, consistently referring to “the shooter.” The judiciary believes F.M. was the shooter and T. A. acted as driver. In addition to T.A.’s confession, the evidence includes surveillance camera footage and DNA traces.

On Thursday, the OM will announce its sentence demands against the teenager and young man.