It was a case that caused a stir in the Netherlands: a 67-year-old woman, found dead in the grass, shot in the head. Three years later, we learn this Monday, October 3 that the victim and his murderer are two Northerners, from Hoymille near Dunkirk.
Cooperation between the Dunkirk public prosecutor’s office and the Dutch authorities
First act of the story: in June 2019, the Dutch police found the body of a 67-year-old woman, naked, lying in the grass near a canal on the Belgian border, and killed with a bullet to the back of the head. No clue to his identity. Calls for witnesses parade on Dutch television, without success.
A year later, in France, the gendarmes of Hoymille, near Bergues, were called to the home of a 70-year-old man who died of natural causes. So far, nothing out of the ordinary, but his wife is nowhere to be found. All of his belongings have disappeared, except for his identity papers. His pension continues to be paid into the joint account. The gendarmes discover that the couple was heavily in debt.
They then throw a appeal to other European police. This is where the cogs fit together: it is indeed the wife of this northerner who was found dead in the Netherlands, just an hour and a half from the couple’s home. The bullet she received corresponds to the gun found in Hoymille. We find the husband’s DNA on the rope that tied him.
Elements that allow the French and Dutch prosecutors to close the investigation, after 3 years of investigation.