Netherlands: Journalist Peter R. de Vries Dies of His Wounds

 Peter R. de Vries, a well-known journalist and crime reporter in the Netherlands, has died of wounds sustained last week when he was shot in Amsterdam. Two suspects are in custody, and the Moroccan Mafia in the Netherlands is widely suspected of being behind the shooting. De Vries joins the list of previously assassinated public figures in the Netherlands along with film director Theo van Gogh and politician Pim Fortuyn.

De Vries is the reporter who organized a secretly recorded admission from Johan van der Sloot that he was present when Natalee Holloway died in Aruba.

Fousesquawk is working on translating a Dutch news report of de Vries' passing.

*Update: From De Telegraaf (translation by Fousesquawk): 

 https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1452463437/peter-r-de-vries-64-overleden

Peter R. de Vries (64) dies

Amsterdam: Peter R. de Vries died Thursday, July 15. The crime reporter was seriously wounded last Tuesday evening when he was shot on the Lang Leidsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam. De Vries was 64.

The family and his partner announced the following: "Peter fought until the end, but was not able to win the battle. He died surrounded by the people who loved him. Peter lived according to his conviction: 'On bended knee is no way to be free'. We are immensely proud of him and at the same time, inconsolable." 

Shooting

The attack happened around 19:30 on the Lange Leidsedwarsstraat, in the area of the Leidseplein (Square) near a parking garage. About 100 meters away sits the studio of RTL Boulevard, where de Vries was present that evening. Images of a bloodied de Vries quickly spread.

Two suspects are still in custody because of the shooting. They are a 35-year-old Pole from Maurik in Gelderland and a 21-year-old man from Rotterdam. The latter was allegedly the shooter, the Pole is believed to have driven the get-a-way car. The police conducted house searches in Maurik, Tiel, and Rotterdam and seized data processors and ammunition.

As yet, little is clear as to the background of the murder. Attorney Inez Weski complained that the media too easily points to Ridouan Taghi, whom she is defending in the notorious Marengo murder trial. Taghi is the chief suspect in that (trial). He is believed to be the one who gave the order for a series of murders against the backdrop of the international cocaine business.

De Vries is the confidante of Nabil B., and worked in that role with the two current attorneys of the prosecution witness. It was often said in the corridors that his advisory role became fatal for him. As far as is known, he had no security because he didn't want it.

Peter R. de Vries began his journalistic career with De Telegraaf right after middle school. A Hague murder case that he worked on awakened his interest in crime journalism. In the 35 years that followed, he investigated more than 500 murder files and grew into one of the most well-known crime journalists in the country.