JA was acquitted of Dimitri’s murder by the Alkmaar court last June due to lack of evidence. The Public Prosecution Service, which had demanded a 15-year prison sentence against A., appealed against that acquittal.
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Next year
At an interim hearing at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal on Wednesday, it emerged that the substantive hearing of that appeal will not take place until next year at the earliest. The Public Prosecution Service thinks it has more evidence to put A. behind bars for the murder.
JA was sentenced last year to three years in prison for the violent burglary of an 87-year-old man in his then hometown of Nibbixwoud, and for drug possession and cannabis cultivation. A. himself appealed against that ruling; that case will run concurrently with the Dimitri case. The court judge announced on Wednesday that the abused elderly man has now died. His relatives will continue the civil proceedings against A.
Also read: Nibbixwoud relieved by DNA match for violent home burglary: ‘The fear was there’
Two weeks before A., who has a long criminal record, allegedly killed Dimitri, A. suddenly stood in the 87-year-old man’s bedroom screaming for money. A. dragged him into the living room and forced him, probably with a crowbar, to hand over money. The victim suffered heavily from the consequences of the robbery.
Images
After the previous acquittal in the Dimitri case, the police continued to investigate A. The Public Prosecution Service still believes it can convincingly prove that A. took Dimitri’s life with brute force. 168 pages of additional criminal investigation have been added to the criminal file.
Also read: Telephone details of murder suspect Nibbixwoud still unclear, Public Prosecution Service sticks to 15 years in prison [ update ]
There are camera images of the explosion of violence, which do not clearly show who is exerting violence on Dimitri. The Public Prosecution Service now thinks it can demonstrate even better that the man in the images cannot be anyone other than JA. Dimitri’s sister was present at the court on Wednesday: “We have hope for justice again, that A. will still be punished for the murder of Dimitri.”
The next interim hearing in this case at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal will take place on March 12 next year.
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