Lisa's (17) murder suspect was allegedly staying illegally at Amsterdam asylum center
Residents of a large asylum center in Amsterdam-Zuidoost said the 22-year-old man accused of murdering 17-year-old Lisa from Abcoude and linked to two violent sex crimes was not legally registered at the facility, but was found staying in the room of a friend or acquaintance, Het Parool reports.
The disclosure came during a residents’ meeting organized by the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) after the man’s arrest.
The suspect, who is charged with stabbing Lisa multiple times as she biked home early Wednesday and with raping a woman in Amsterdam-Oost on August 15, was taken into custody in a fifth-floor room of the asylum center. Prosecutors also tied him to an attempted sexual assault on August 10 in the same area.
At the closed-door residents’ meeting, which began at 7 p.m. and lasted about an hour, COA officials confirmed that the suspect had not been formally housed at the location.
Several residents told Het Parool this was the central message of the meeting. Journalists were barred from entering the building or even stepping onto the grounds, and private security guards reportedly told reporters they were not welcome. Residents at the meeting were also told they should not speak to journalists.
While the discussion took place inside, other residents socialized outside on the shelter’s grounds, some playing football and gathering at picnic tables.
One asylum seeker living at the center, which houses about 850 residents, described what he saw as widespread security failures. “Here is a lot of criminality, drugs are being dealt with, and the COA does nothing, also not against violence,” he told Het Parool, anonymously. “No wonder that such a criminal can live here. Above all, there are no cameras. It is super unsafe for children among all these bad men.” Other residents reportedly strongly agreed with his statement.
A COA spokesperson, who was not at the meeting, rejected that description. “We do not recognize ourselves in the picture painted by one resident,” the spokesperson said. “For information about the suspect, we refer to the police.”
Amsterdam police said Friday that Lisa was killed with “significant violence” and suffered multiple stab wounds and slashes, including at her neck. Her body was discovered along Holterbergweg, between Amsterdam-Oost and Abcoude, after she had called police herself to report the attack. The suspect remains in restricted custody and will appear before an examining magistrate on Monday.
Meanwhile, Ajax football club announced that it will honor Lisa during Sunday’s home match against Heracles, calling on supporters to applaud in the 17th minute — a tribute to her age — to “send a signal against senseless violence and show support to her family.”
