The footage taken shortly after the Dutch crime journalist Peter R de Vries was shot in the head in the center of Amsterdam is believed to have been taken by someone involved in his murder and posted on the Internet.
Investigators believe that before De Vries was attacked, the two men had prepared and waited for him. As part of the plan, they photographed his body and posted the photos on the Internet to attract the greatest degree of publicity.
The video of bystanders coming to help the seriously injured reporter quickly became popular before then YouTube eventually deleted them.
“If you want the most attention, you do it,” a police source told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper. “Then you make sure that the shocking video is immediately spread on the Internet. It is suspected that those people are waiting there.”
De Vries, 64, a well-known figure in the Netherlands, died a week after being shot five times (including at least one on the head) at around 7:45 pm local time (18:45 British summer time) July 6.
After leaving the nearby RTL Boulevard TV studio, he has been on his way to the parking lot of Lange Leidsedwarsstraat.
Surveillance cameras in a nearby cafe recorded that the two men, wearing almost identical clothes, reached for their mobile phones shortly before the shooting. “It’s as if they want to get the camera right away,” the source said.
After the attack, they calmly hovered De Vries’ prone body, seemingly to capture images. They are all wearing blue jeans, white sneakers, gray sweaters, and a similar bag hanging on their chests.
Sources close to the murder investigation said that the actions of these people immediately attracted people’s attention. “The actions of these two men are very unnatural and have aroused our clear concern,” the source told the Dutch newspaper.
De Vries gained fame for reporting on the kidnapping of millionaire brewer Freddy Heineken in 1983. He has owned his own TV show for 17 years, worked with victims’ families, tracked down pending cases and exposed justice unfair.
But since last year, he has been serving as a consultant and media spokesperson for Nabil B, a former gang member who became an informant in the prosecution case. Riduan Taji, A suspected drug lord was arrested in Dubai in 2019.
At the time of his arrest, Taji was described as “one of the most dangerous wanted criminals in the world.”
Nabil B’s brother was murdered in 2018, and three men suspected of committing a crime were tried separately Dirk Wilsum, the former lawyer who shot him 2019 will start at the beginning of this month.
Taghi’s lawyer Inez Weski denied that his client had anything to do with the De Vries attack or any other incident.
The police believe that the identity of the person who was filming De Vries when he was dying has yet to be determined. Soon after the shooting, two murder suspects were arrested on the A4 highway. A 35-year-old Polish Kamil E was suspected of driving an escape car, and a 21-year-old Dutchman Delano G was the suspected gunman.
