Alleged gunman hired hours before crime reporter De Vries's assassination: Report

Delano G., the man who allegedly fired the bullets that killed Peter R. de Vries, was hired only hours before the crime writer was gunned down in the heart of Amsterdam. That happened after another suspect, Konrad W., refused to go through with the killing on the morning of 6 July 2021, EenVandaag reports based on information from insiders.

Konrad W. was arrested in Poland on September 2022. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) suspects him of involvement in De Vries’s murder. He allegedly helped arrange the weapons, getaway car, and smartphone the gunman used to communicate with alleged “murder broker” Krystian M.

According to EenVandaag’s sources, newly decrypted communications data show that Konrad W. was initially going to commit the murder. On 5 July 2021, he and getaway driver Kamil E. arranged the weapons and getaway car. Traffic data also show the two at the RTL Boulevard studio that Monday. But De Vries didn’t go to the studio that day.

The Next morning, on 6 July 2021, Konrad W. messaged murder broker Krystian M. and pulled out of the murder. He said he thought about it all night and concluded that an assassination “without a damper is really a risky affair.” He also did not know that the target would have to be shot “right in the center of Amsterdam,” he texted.

At 11:38 a.m., Krysitan M. called Delano G., presumably to hire him to carry out De Vries’s murder. Because five minutes later, Krystian M. texted Konrad W. to say he found someone else for the assassination. W. transferred the weapons and smartphone to Delano G. Which explains why Konrad W.’s DNA was found on the murder weapon.

Delano G. and Kamil E. ultimately drove to Amsterdam to commit the murder, with Delano G. acting as the gunman and Kamil E. as the getaway driver, according to the authorities.

De Vries, the Netherlands’ most famous crime reporter, got shot outside the RTL Boulevard studio on Lange Leidsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam at around 7:30 p.m. on 6 July 2023. He succumbed to his injuries a week later.

The trials against the suspects are still ongoing. The next hearing is scheduled for June 13.