Suspect cleared in 1992 The Hague homicide case amid limited forensic evidence

The court in The Hague has acquitted 71-year-old Ruben B. of murdering The Hague garage owner Louis ‘Loek’ van Dam almost 35 years ago. Earlier in February, the Public Prosecution Service had recommended a 14-year prison sentence for him.

Van Dam, 64, was killed on January 27, 1992, in his garage on Kritzingerstraat in The Hague. He was shot at close range from behind with six bullets, two to the back of his head and four to his back. His body was found the next day.

Prosecutors argued that B. could not handle his wife wanting to leave him for Van Dam. She had sought to separate from B., who allegedly abused her, with the victim’s assistance.

The court noted that the case file portrays B. as a “dominant, controlling man who views a woman as his property, expecting her to obey him and keep him satisfied.” It also indicates that he was extremely angry at the victim and had threatened him with death multiple times. Van Dam had no conflicts with anyone else, and the way he was killed corresponded with “the suspect’s anger and stated intentions.”

Despite “strong indications,” the court found there was not enough evidence to prove B.’s involvement in the murder, either as the shooter or as the one who allegedly instructed his son to carry it out. “The verdict is that you are acquitted of all charges,” the presiding judge said.

One reason is that the case file contains very little forensic evidence, and the court found many statements insufficiently reliable. "Many witnesses in the file are relatives of the suspect who, for their own reasons, appear not to have been fully forthcoming," the court noted.

The investigation was reopened following an anonymous tip received by the police in 2022. B. and his son had previously been suspects in 1992, but the cases against them were dismissed. The son was not named a suspect this time because his case had expired under the statute of limitations.

B. attended the verdict. He had been released from pre-trial detention several weeks earlier. It remains uncertain if the Public Prosecution Service will appeal the acquittal. "We are reviewing the judgment," a spokesperson said.

The son of Loek van Dam described the absence of answers about his father’s killing as “extremely painful,” speaking through his lawyer Sébas Diekstra. “My client had hoped that, after all these years, there would finally be definitive clarity about what happened to his father and who was responsible,” Diekstra said.

Van Dam’s son expressed gratitude to the police and prosecutors for their work. "What matters most to him is that everything possible is being done to ultimately uncover the truth about his father’s murder."