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Dutch prosecutors said Monday authorities connected the Caribbean land of Curacao person detained a antheral "who played a starring role" successful the high-profile execution of crime newsman Peter R. de Vries 4 years ago.
De Vries was gunned down successful wide daylight connected a engaged Amsterdam thoroughfare successful July 2021, sparking an outpouring of grief and interest implicit the power of organized transgression successful the Netherlands.
"The 39-year-old antheral was detained connected Monday successful Willemstad connected Curacao," the Dutch Public Prosecution Service said.
"The antheral is suspected of playing a starring relation successful a transgression organisation that aimed to perpetrate unit and which was down the execution of De Vries, among different things," prosecutors said successful a statement.
A Dutch tribunal past twelvemonth handed down lengthy jailhouse sentences to three of the main suspects successful the murder, sentencing the organizer of the deed to 30 years, portion 2 different men received 28 years. Three different men received sentences of betwixt 10 to 14 years for complicity successful the murder.
In this Thursday Jan. 31, 2008 record photo, Dutch transgression newsman Peter R. de Vries reacts anterior to attending a unrecorded TV amusement successful Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Peter Dejong / AP
The latest suspect, calved successful Curacao but who had Dutch nationality, has been down bars connected the land since 2014.
"Detectives continued their probe into those who ordered the deed connected De Vries," the prosecution work said.
"The antheral emerged arsenic a fishy during the people of the probe into the higher echelons of the transgression organization," it said.
The antheral volition beryllium transferred to the Netherlands soon wherever helium volition look earlier a judge, prosecutors added.
De Vries, who reportedly had the operation "On bended genu is nary mode to beryllium free" tattooed connected his calf, made his sanction arsenic a transgression writer who reported connected and wrote a bestselling publication astir the 1983 kidnapping of brew magnate Freddy Heineken. Later successful his vocation helium campaigned tirelessly to resoluteness acold cases.
De Vries also won an Emmy in 2008 for his coverage of the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway successful Aruba.
The personage writer past moved into television, wherever helium ran his ain transgression programme called "Peter R. de Vries, Crime Reporter."
Prosecutors believed the deed to beryllium linked to De Vries's relation arsenic advisor to a witnesser against cause kingpin Ridouan Taghi.
But the tribunal past year's judgement ruled that since Taghi was not portion of the trial, a definite nexus could not beryllium established betwixt that case, known arsenic Marengo, and the De Vries execution trial.
De Vries nevertheless revealed successful 2019 that authorities had informed him helium was connected a hit-list drawn up by Taghi, who successful February past twelvemonth received a beingness condemnation implicit a bid of murders committed by his gang.
During the 2022 trial for 2 of the suspects, close-circuit tv images showed de Vries being shot. The tribunal saw images astatine a region of de Vries crossing the street, a fig moving down him and past the infinitesimal erstwhile the writer was changeable and fell to the ground. De Vries' girl Kelly asked to permission the courtroom arsenic the footage was shown.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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