Willem Holleeder

Willem Holleeder
Holleeder in 1987
Born	Willem Frederik Holleeder (1958-05-29) 29 May 1958 (age 66) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Criminal status	Convicted (life imprisonment)
Parent	Wim Holleeder
Criminal charge	1983: Heineken kidnapping 2006: Extortion, assault
Penalty	1983: 11 years' imprisonment 2007: 9 years' imprisonment 2019: Life imprisonment

Willem Frederik Holleeder (born 29 May 1958) is a Dutch gangster, outlaw biker and convicted criminal. He is nicknamed De Neus (The Nose) because of the size of his nose.

In 1983, Holleeder was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment for his involvement in the kidnapping of Heineken president Freddy Heineken for a 35-million-gulden (approximately €16 million, or US$19.5 million) ransom. Then, in 2007, Holleeder was sentenced to nine years in prison for several counts of extortion, including the extortion of businessman Willem Endstra, who was murdered in 2004^[1] after falling out with Holleeder.^[2] He served his sentence in Nieuw Vosseveld and was released on 27 January 2012. He was arrested again in May 2013 (released 12 June 2013), May 2015 and April 2016. In July 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for five murders and one count of manslaughter.^[3][4][5] The sentence was upheld by the Amsterdam Appeals Court on the 24th of June 2022.^[6]

Early life

Born in 1958 in Amsterdam, Willem Holleeder is the son of Wim Holleeder (1927–1990), an employee at the Heineken breweries who lost his job because of alcoholism. As a teenager, he, along with his classmate Cor van Hout, was part of a gang that worked for landlords in evicting squatters, and may have been involved in several robberies.^[7] Cor van Hout was later to become his brother-in-law by marrying Holleeder's sister Sonja.^[8]

Heineken kidnapping

Main article: Kidnapping of Freddy Heineken

In 1983, their relatively unknown gang abducted the Heineken heir Freddy Heineken (who had purchased back the family ownership of the brewery), along with his driver Ab Doderer. Ultimately, their demand for 35 million guilders (approximately €16 million, or US$19.5 million) was met by the family, although the police were against it. After Freddy Heineken's release, the kidnappers—Cor van Hout, Willem Holleeder, Jan Boellaard, Frans Meijer, and Martin Erkamps—were all eventually traced and served prison sentences. During this period, Holleeder met many other gangsters, including Dennis Stewart and Yvon Lodewijks, who was later accused of ordering the murder of Holleeder's brother-in-law and co-criminal Cor van Hout.

After serving the Heineken sentence, Holleeder emerged as a high-profile criminal leader. Several million guilders of the Heineken ransom were never traced, and may have been part of the initial sum he and Cor van Hout hoped to use for a new extortion empire; there are said to have been up to 24 people in his crime ring.^{[citation needed][9][10][11]} After his release from prison in 1990, Holleeder was close to Willem van Boxtel, the president of the Hells Angels Amsterdam chapter.^[12]

Initially, he was in a business relationship with real estate businessman Willem Endstra, possibly involving money laundering.^[13] After Cor van Hout was killed in 2003, Holleeder fell out with Endstra. In early 2004, Endstra was reported to have offered one million euros to Boxtel to have Holleeder killed.^[14] Endstra secretly testified to the police about Holleeder, but was shot dead near his office in 2004.^[2] It is suspected that Holleeder, along with his partner-in-crime Dino Soerel, ordered the murder of both Willem Endstra and John Mieremet,^[15] who was shot and killed in Thailand on 2 November 2005. Holleeder's name keeps turning up in this connection although three suspects in the Endstra murder, Ali N. and C. Özgür of Alkmaar and Cleon D. from Almere have been released.^[16] According to Endstra, Holleeder was involved in 25 murders, including that of Cor van Hout.

The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported on 16 July 2006 that Holleeder and Cor van Hout had planned to kidnap Prince Bernhard instead of Freddy Heineken in the 1980s. Thomas van der Bijl, who was murdered in his bar in Amsterdam in April 2006, made these allegations in a deposition before the Dutch national police.^[17]

2007 trial and sentencing

Holleeder's 2006 trial was dubbed the trial of the century.^{[citation needed]} His lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, argued that media depictions of Holleeder as one of the "topcriminelen" had prejudiced the case against him.^[18] However, Moszkowicz was forced to resign after media allegations of conflict of interest, since he had also been the lawyer for Willem Endstra.

Among the witnesses in the trial was lawyer Bram Zeegers, who testified that Holleeder had been extorting millions of euros from Endstra between 2000 and 2004. A week after the testimony, Zeegers was found dead of a drug overdose.

In late 2007, Holleeder underwent a heart valve surgery;^[19] initially, reports of his failing health were thought to be a hoax,^[16] but present medical opinion appears to suggest that he is indeed in poor health and may not survive the present sentence.^[20]

Whilst under detention in 2008, he was arrested for alleged involvement in the murder of Yugoslav drug dealer Serge Miranovic in 2006.^[21]

Holleeder was found guilty of extortion and sentenced to nine years in prison, at a time held in Nieuw Vosseveld. His subsequent appeal was turned down by the appeals court in July 2009.^[20]

After his release

Holleeder was released from De Schie prison in Rotterdam on 27 January 2012, after serving two-thirds of his nine-year term. He had been due to be released on 31 January but was let out a few days earlier to avoid publicity.^[22] After his release he appeared on television in the show College Tour in 2012.^[23] He also made a record named Willem is terug ("Willem is back") in September 2012 together with Lange Frans, a Dutch rapper.^[24] Various politicians condemned his appearance, saying that Holleeder should not become a cult hero.^[25] In addition, from September 2012 until 7 March 2013 Holleeder wrote a weekly column for the Dutch magazine Nieuwe Revu.

In February 2013 Holleeder was a co-founder of the motorcycle club No Surrender MC and served as vice-president of its Amsterdam branch.

2013 arrest

In May 2013, Holleeder was arrested in a large operation involving 450 police and army personnel. He was suspected of extortion.^[26] The victim of the alleged extortion was Theo Huisman, the former president of the Amsterdam chapter of the Hells Angels Holland [nl].^[27] On 12 June 2013 Holleeder was released from prison but remained a suspect in the case.^[28] Back in jail, in May 2015 it became known that Holleeder knew who was involved in the murder of his brother-in-law, Cor van Hout. Holleeder's sister Astrid, a criminal lawyer, feared that Holleeder planned to assassinate her, and so she proposed to assist in his prosecution. While visiting him in prison she secretly recorded his confession and handed it to the police.^[8][29]

2016 arrest and alleged assassination plot

In April 2016, Holleeder was arrested again, while still in prison, for allegedly soliciting two members of a gang (known as the Curaçao No Limit Soldiers) to kill his sisters Astrid and Sonja as well as Investigative Journalist Peter R. de Vries, a witness in the mega-trial. Holleeder dismissed the charge as "nonsense", insisting that it would not be in his "interest" to kill his sisters. The gang member who informed the authorities about the plot subsequently recanted his confession, though Astrid believes that he did so only because he is also afraid of her brother.^[10]

2019 verdict

In July 2019, the Court in Amsterdam convicted Holleeder after a lengthy and extensive trial^[30][31] at the age of 61 to life imprisonment for his involvement in a series of five murders, including that of his former friend and criminal associate Cor van Hout, and one case of manslaughter,^[32] thus following the demand of the prosecutor^[33][34] and brushing off his denials.^[35] The trial was held in De Bunker.^[36][37][38]

The judges also found that he had formed a crime gang and ordered killings with jailed associate Dino Soerel and since-murdered criminal Stanley Hillis.

The prosecution case relied on the sensational testimony of his sister, Astrid, who made secret recordings of their conversations.^[39] Victim Van Hout was married to Holleeder's sister Sonja, and she too gave evidence against him.^[40][41][10]

The cases in which Holleeder was found guilty

Sam Klepper, criminal - shot dead, 2000

Cor van Hout, friend, brother-in-law and ex-accomplice - shot dead, 2003

Willem Endstra, property developer - shot dead, 2004

Kees Houtman, drug dealer - shot dead, 2006

Thomas van der Bijl, bar owner and family friend - shot dead, 2006

He was also found guilty of ordering the 2002 attempted murder of John Mieremet, Klepper's business partner (later shot dead in Thailand in 2005) and of the manslaughter of Robert ter Haak, who died of bullet wounds during the fatal attack that Holleeder had ordered on Cor van Hout.

Holleeder appealed the verdict. In June 2022, Holleeder was again sentenced to life imprisonment on appeal. He announced his intention to file another appeal with the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, the highest court in the country.^[42] In 2024, the Supreme Court affirmed the life sentence originally imposed on Holleeder. ^[43]

Bibliography

• Holleeder, Astrid (2016). Judas. Een familiekroniek (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Lebowski. ISBN 9789048825028.
  • In English translation: Holleeder, Astrid (2018). Judas: How a Sister's Testimony Brought Down a Criminal Mastermind. Mulholland Books. ISBN 9780316475310.
• Sher, Julian; Marsden, William (2006). Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers' Empire of Crime. Toronto: Alfred Knopf Canada. ISBN 9780307370327.

References

1. "Negen jaar cel voor Holleeder (video) | nu.nl/algemeen | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op" (in Dutch). Nu.nl. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
2. "Gangster John Mieremet killed in Thailand < Dutch news | Expatica The Netherlands". Expatica.com. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
3. Willem Holleeder jailed for life for ordering five gangland murders
4. DUTCH CRIME BOSS TO SPEND LIFE IN PRISON OVER 6 MURDERS
5. Holleeder trial: Dutch crime godfather gets life for five murders
6. "Life sentence upheld for Dutch mob boss "The Nose" for ordering five slayings". cbs.com. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
7. "Netherlands' most notorious criminal stands trial again - archief". Nrc.nl. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
8. "Holleeder gaf toe dat hij wist van moord op Cor van Hout". 30 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
9. How a Dutch Gangster was Betrayed by His Sister | The Backstory. New York: The New Yorker.
10. Keefe, Patrick Radden (6 August 2018). "How a Notorious Gangster Was Exposed by His Own Sister". The New Yorker. New York. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
11. Holleeder, Astrid (2018). Judas : how a sister's testimony brought down a criminal mastermind (First North American ed.). New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0316475303. OCLC 1230331601. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
12. Sher & Marsden 2006, p. 275.
13. De oorlog in de Amsterdamse onderwereld by Bart Middelburg and Paul Vugts
14. Sher & Marsden 2006, p. 277.
15. "Connections between crime world killings". Expatica.com. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
16. "DE JONGE TURK". GANGSTERSINC.NL. 28 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
17. "Holleeder wilde Prins ontvoeren" (in Dutch). Telegraaf.nl.
18. [1]^{[dead link‍]}
19. ""Holleeder has 2 years to live" < Dutch news | Expatica The Netherlands". Expatica.com. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
20. "Appeals court confirms nine years for notorious criminal - archief". Nrc.nl. 1 January 2012. Archived from the original on 6 July 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
21. "Convicted Amsterdam blackmailer loses appeal < Dutch news | Expatica The Netherlands". Expatica.com. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
22. "BBC News - Dutch crime boss Willem Holleeder freed". Bbc.co.uk. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
23. Borgdorff, Suzanne. "Huys: 'Holleeder in College Tour spannendste tv-moment ooit'". Retrieved 30 May 2015.
24. "Lange Frans & Willem Holleeder - Willem is Terug". www.hiphopgemeenschap.nl. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
25. "VVD: Holleeder op tv is absurd | NOS". nos.nl. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
26. "Dutch Heineken kidnapper Willem 'The Nose' Holleeder arrested for extortion". News.com.au. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
27. "Holleeder perste 'president' Hells Angels af - HOLLEEDER - PAROOL". Parool.nl. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
28. Bewerkt door: Redactie 12-7-13 - 10:01  bron: ANP. "Willem Holleeder weer op vrije voeten". AD.nl. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
29. "Sunday Times Magazine" 8 April 2017
30. CRIME BOSS HOLLEEDER INDICTED ON THREE MORE ASSASSINATIONS
31. The hottest ticket in Amsterdam is a seat at the Holleeder trial
32. Text of verdict 04 July 2019
33. Public prosecutor demands life sentence for Holleeder
34. LIFE IN PRISON DEMANDED OF SUSPECTED CRIME BOSS, HEINEKEN KIDNAPPER WILLEM HOLLEEDER
35. Holleeder: ‘No idea’ why gangster who owed him money was murdered
36. "Dutch Heineken kidnapper jailed for life for gangland murders". France 24. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
37. "Holleeder uitgespeeld: levenslang de cel in". Metro (in Dutch). 4 July 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
38. Boffey, Daniel (5 February 2018). "Dutch gangster famed for kidnap of Heineken boss on trial for murder". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
39. Astrid Holleeder: Why I betrayed my crime boss brother
40. "HE MADE OUR LIVES HELL": ORGANISED CRIME BOSS' SISTER
41. Gangland boss Willem Holleeder shopped by sisters and ex-girlfriend
42. "Willem Holleeder loses appeal, is guilty of ordering contract killings". Dutch News. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
43. "Supreme Court upholds Willem Holleeder life sentence; Convicted in 6 assassinations". NL Times. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.