HEERLEN Eric L. (45) was taken from his bed by an arrest team at 11:45 p.m. on Dec. 22 at a residence in Hulsberg. He is suspected of extortion, threats and having explosives in his possession. L. has since been at large again for some time. However, he is still a suspect.
"I was framed," the Heerlen native said in an interview with Crimewatcher. "I've had a conflict with a former landlord of mine for a long time. He's behind this I think. That's what I told the investigators during the three interrogations. As it happens, I myself have absolutely no conflict with Ralf Krewinkel, never even spoken to the man."
The police got on Eric L.'s trail through two reports from witnesses made as early as November 2016, the police file shows. It states that "it was reported to the police that Eric L. would be looking for, among other things, explosives and hand grenades to blow up the mayor and the Heerlen police. According to L. "it is so" that these two witnesses "certainly framed" him by sending the package to the Heerlen town hall.
The police are still investigating the case. L. has long been a whistleblower about alleged corruption within the Dutch, to be more precise, Limburg government. According to L.'s lawyer Sjanneke de Crom, the suspected Heerlen man "has previously filed charges against the people who are now accusing him of something so serious.
"That report should be seriously investigated by the police." Incidentally, L. was previously sentenced to three years in prison for triple attempted manslaughter of several police officers.
