Justice appears to have too little evidence against four co-defendants of prime suspect Ron S. (51) from Sittard in the Andy de Heus murder case. The Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) still assumes that S. did not kill the market merchant from Pey on his own in December 2012.
More than six years after De Heus' disappearance, however, there is still insufficient evidence about the role they played.
Murder in association
That appears now that prosecutor Leonard Geuns does accuse prime suspect Ron S. of murder in association - that is, in close cooperation with others - of De Heus but has not subpoenaed anyone as a co-defendant for the trial that begins next week.
Ronnie S. is therefore the only accused in court on Tuesday, March 12, during the first (pre-trial) hearing in this notorious disappearance and murder case. "No decision has yet been made on the prosecution of four co-defendants," a spokesman for the Limburg Public Prosecutor's Office informed us when asked.
They are said to be two women from Sittard, a man from that place and a resident of Reuver. They were extensively investigated several years ago. However, due to the passage of time, it seems likely that the prosecution will have to dismiss the cases against them. In that case, the charge against Ronnie S. will become murder instead of murder in association. The charges against the man from Sittard also include weapons possession and burying/disposing the corpse of Andy de Heus.
Calls
The Peyenaar, father of two small children, disappeared without a trace on December 18, 2012. His remains were found in February 2016 near the Porta Isola bungalow park in Stevensweert. In that park, the victim and the main suspect allegedly had hemp cages. In the Andy de Heus disappearance case, Ronnie S. has been the main suspect for almost three years because, according to telephone records, he had been with Andy de Heus on the night of the disappearance.
Police also listened in on conversations S. had with others about the case while in jail in Germany. There he was serving a sentence for drug offenses. S. is now serving the last part of German sentence in the Netherlands.
