Another gangland murder in Amsterdam

3 November 2005

AMSTERDAM — A man was shot dead in the Osdorp district of Amsterdam on Wednesday evening. This is the third killing connected to the Amsterdam underworld in three days.

The police have refused to confirm the name of the man but sources told the media he was estate agent and coffeeshop owner Kees Houtman, 45.

News service NOS reported Houtman was an acquaintance of top Amsterdam gangster John Mieremet, who was gunned down in Thailand on Wednesday morning. An anonymous prosecution source told NOS that Houtman was involved in major armed robberies in the 1980s and 1990s.

The latest killing took place on the Johan Braakensiekhof in Amsterdam Osdorp around 8pm.

The victim was struck several times by automatic fire outside his home. He managed to retreat back into his house where he died, the police said. The two killers escaped in a car.

The police have refused to speculate on a possible motive for the killing. “We are keeping an open mind,” a spokesperson said.

Feared gangster John Mieremet was shot in the head by a gunman earlier on Wednesday in Bang-Lamung, a resort near the town of Pattaya in Thailand. Mieremet was involved in the real estate business in Thailand.

Miereet’s former lawyer Evert Hingst was murdered on Monday evening in Amsterdam. He was shot by an automatic weapon outisde his home on the Gerrit van der Veenstraat in Amsterdam.

As with many previous criminal “hits” in the Netherlands, the killers showed little or no regard for innocent bystanders.

“This shooting took place in the middle of the Amsterdam Zuid Halloween trick or treat route,” expat Keren Davis told Expatica.

“Hundreds of expat children and their parents were out on the streets around and about as this happened. The British school was on holiday, but the International School had several children affected.”

Subject: Dutch news