Prison sentence for Swiss manslaughter of farmer in the Netherlands
Published: Friday, Dec 20th 2024, 12:40
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In the trial for the manslaughter of a German organic farmer, a court in Roermond, the Netherlands, has sentenced three former US soldiers and a Swiss businessman to prison. The victim did not survive the torture.
In its verdict, the court considered it proven that the German was killed during an attempt by the three former members of the army to collect 450,000 euros allegedly owed by the Swiss man. The crime took place in the Dutch border town of Bergen, not far from Kevelaer on the Lower Rhine.
The court sentenced a 42-year-old American who allegedly killed the German to 17 years and six months in prison. The two other Americans involved in the blackmail attempt received sentences of one and a half and five years and four months in prison. The businessman was sentenced to six years and three months in prison.
Alleged business debts
The blackmail had a business background. The victim was involved in a fruit-growing business in Macedonia. The Swiss man wanted to take over this business and first collect an alleged debt from the German.
The attempt to put the 53-year-old under massive pressure in November 2019, which got out of hand, was preceded by months of preparations by the criminals who had flown in from the USA. The police were later able to reconstruct the men's communications using prepaid cell phones.
Ex-soldiers as unscrupulous bill collectors
According to the indictment, the Americans, who apparently often hired themselves out as unscrupulous bill collectors, were each offered almost 50,000 euros if they could get the German to pay his alleged debt. According to the indictment, the perpetrators broke into the farmer's home early in the morning on the day of the crime, tied him up, tortured him and stabbed him until he died.
©Keystone/SDA
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