A witness set to testify against Dutch criminal kingpin Willem Holleeder, was killed in a bizarre accident in Eastern Europe on Sunday. According to AT5, Hidr Korkmaz was electrocuted while fishing - his line hit an electricity pole when he cast it.
The Public Prosecutor in Amsterdam confirmed Korkmaz's death to the broadcaster. "The local government assumes a tragic accident. We do not doubt that, but we can not confirm it", a spokesperson said to AT5.
Astrid Holleeder - sister of criminal kingpin Willem Holleeder - fiercely criticized the way she, her sister Sonja and Sandra den Hartog are being protected after testifying against her brother. In her new book Dagboek van een getuige, she writes that their protection against possible retaliation by Willem Holleeder, fails on all sides, NU.nl reports.
The three women have been in witness protection since they gave testimonies against Holleeder.
An American television series is in the works for Astrid Holleeder's book Judas, in which she tells about her life under criminal brother Willem Holldeeder, Deadline reports.
"Judas is the unbelievable but true story which follows Holleeder's life as the youngest sister to Willem Holleeder, the Netherlands' most notorious criminal mob boss", the entertainment website writes. "Judas is described as a story about family, betrayal and a woman's journey of empowerment through the unthinkable."
A defect on a rented night-vision camera was the reason that Freddy Heineken's kidnappers got away with 30 million euros the night the ransom was dropped, former Justice Minister Frits Krothals Altes reveals in his new book Zeven politieke levens. The kidnappers were on the run for two years before the police finally caught up to them, AD reports.
The Public Prosecutor believes that lawyer Stijn Franken smuggled letters to and from criminal kingpin Willem Holleeder while he was in restricted custody in the high security prison in Vught, the Telegraaf reports.
In court on Friday Willem Holleeder accused his sister Astrid of sabotaging the process of the criminal trial against him. "All this whining is not because of the magistrate or my lawyers, but Astrid. She wants to keep control", Holleeder said in the 10th pro-forma hearing in the lawsuit against him, AD reports.
Astrid Holleeder will testify in court against her criminal brother Willem, she said to KRO-NCRV program Brandpunt on Tuesday. The program asked her a number of questions via her publisher, NU.nl reports.
Astrid Holleeder, sister of organized crime boss Willem Holleeder, has "gone underground" a good two months after her book Judas was published, she said in an interview with Libelle.
In the book Astrid writes about her family, making several accusations about her brother Willem Holleeder. Judas was a best seller in the Netherlands for ten weeks after it published. Several different translations were announced and there will also be an audio book.
One person was fatally wounded in a shooting at a sex club in Laren, Noord-Holland, according to the AD. The victim, believed to be convicted killer-turned-crime blogger Martin Kok, died after shots rang out at the Boccaccio club on Hector Treublaan just after 11:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Kok was in his 80-year-old father's car at the time of the shooting, according to Het Parool. Investigators were still looking for those involved in the shooting as of 8 a.m. on Friday, the AD said.
Update: The Public Prosecutor demanded life in prison against four suspects in the appeal of the massive Amsterdam gangland murders trial known as the Passage-process in court on Tuesday. The trial started in 2007 and is still going. It revolves around seven assassinations - mostly in the Amsterdam underworld - and 10 suspects. The 11th suspect Ali Akgun was assassinated in 2014, NOS reports.
According to notorious Dutch criminal Willem Holleeder, his sisters are manipulating the trial against him by lying in their testimony, he said in a pre-trial hearing in the court in Amsterdam on Thursday
Willem Holleeder tried to have his sisters assassinated from the maximum security prison in Vught, the Public Prosecutor revealed during a pro-forma hearing in the case against the infamous criminal on Monday
An accusation of conflict of interest against Willem Holleeder's lawyer, Stijn Franken, will likely be discussed during a non-substantive hearing in the case against the top-criminal in the Amsterdam court on Tuesday
The Public Prosecutor is back in court on Friday trying to get leaked testimony by criminal Willem Holleeder and his sisters Sonja and Astrid off the internet. After the court ordered crime site VIinderscrime.nl to remove the documents from their site, a private person named Sebastiaan Beens put the documents on his own site.
The court summoned Martin Kok to remove the leaked documents from Willem Holleeder's criminal file from his website Vlinderscrime of face a fine of 5 thousand euros per hour. Links to the documents were removed from the site, though they can still be found on the site through search engines
Leaked documents from the so-called Passage-process show crime boss Willem Holleeder accusing his sisters of drug trafficking. The Public Prosecutor is investigating the leak.
On Wednesday the Public Prosecutor demanded four months in prison against infamous criminal Willem Holleeder for threatening crime journalist Peter R. de Vries in April 2013. As this happened during his probation, the Prosecutor also demanded that Holleerder's conditional release be revoked for the period of one year
Crime boss Willem Holleeder's defense wants 20 days each to question Holleeder's two sisters and ex-girlfriend. The Public Prosecutor wants these three women to be questioned directly in court, instead of behind closed doors
Crime boss Willem Holleeder was becoming crazier and crazier. "He is a psychopath. He's really sick", his sister Sonja testified in the court in Amsterdam on Tuesday. He threatened her children. "We had to flip for who he would shoot first", she said
Astrid Holleeder testified against her brother, Willem Holleeder, in the court in Amsterdam on Monday. She talked about her brother's role in the assassination wave that plagued Amsterdam these past few years. One of the first things she said is that Holleeder has an "unhealthy blood lust" and that "it has to stop"
Crime blogger Martin Kok's house and car were the victims of a shooting in Amsterdam Osdorp on Monday night. He believes the shooting was in retaliation of him posting photos of Willem Holleeder having dinner with a number of underworld figures on his website earlier on Monday
Notorious criminal Murat K. was arrested in prison on Wednesday for involvement in the assassination of 48 year old Hakki Adnan Yesilgat in June 2006 in Tilburg-Noord.
The trial on real estate magnate Willem Endstra's murder started in the court in Amsterdam on Monday, more than 11 years after he was assassinated. Three men are standing trial - 31 year old Ali N., 35 year old Ozgur C. and 41 year old Ziya G. The Public Prosecutor believes they were involved in committing the murder. Notorious criminal Willem Holleeder is suspected of ordering the assassination, but his involvement will be handled in a separate trial.
Two new recorded conversations between crime boss Willem Holleeder and his sister Astrid have surfaced. These conversations were recorded by Astrid before Holleeder was arrested. Portions of these conversations have been added to the criminal file against him.
