Man convicted on appeal of fatally shooting neighbor near Utrecht; Claimed self-defense

An appeals court convicted a 58-year-old man from Leersum of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of his neighbor in February 2020, and sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison. Suspect J. van de K. was previously acquitted after successfully arguing self-defense, but the Court of Appeals for Midden Nederland overturned that ruling, RTV Utrecht reported.

The fatal shooting happened in a home on Vredeoordlaan in Leersum on 25 February 2020. Victim Abdelah had received a letter from the housing association saying it received complaints about him causing a nuisance in the neighborhood. Abdelah believed the complaints came from his neighbor, J. van de K., and went to ask him about it. He was shot dead in the neighbor’s house.

Two years ago, the Utrecht District Court acquitted Van de K., who had argued that he shot his neighbor dead because Abdelah had attacked him with a knife in the hallway of his home. The Utrecht District Court considered it plausible that Van de K. acted in self-defense.

But according to the Court of Appeal, the evidence does not indicate that at all. A knife was found next to Abdelah’s body. Forensic investigators found traces of Van de K. and his son’s DNA on the knife, and not of the victim.

The suspect argued that his DNA ended up on the knife because investigators had moved the weapon in the hallway. According to Van de K., the knife touched a towel that was lying on the floor, which rubbed off the suspect’s DNA.

However, a forensic expert concluded that this was highly unlikely. The knife had barely been moved, and there were no smudge marks or towel fibers on the knife. Moreover, the knife fit into Van de K.’s knife collection, while the victim did not own any such weapons.

The Court of Appeal also questioned Van de K.’s statement that he went to get his gun from his safe because he saw Abdellah walking towards his house. A community police officer who spoke to Abdellah shortly before and a neighbor who saw him walking both testified that the victim was calm and did not appear angry or aggressive.

The appeals court also disregarded a statement by the suspect’s son made shortly after the fatal shooting. The boy told the police that Abdellah had attacked his father with a knife. But according to the court, there was enough time before the police arrived for the man to instruct his son on what to say.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had recommended that the Court of Appeal sentence Van de K. to 10 years in prison. The court went for a slightly shorter sentence, given how long it took for the case to come to trial and appeal. Van de K. also has to pay the victim’s family around €100,000 in damages.

Van de K. has two weeks to appeal to the Supreme Court if he wishes to.