Solved case · 1983
Also known as Kidnapping of Freddy Heineken
File:Freddy Heineken en Ab Doderer (1983).jpgCredit: Rob Croes for AnefoCC BY-SA 3.0 NLSourceThe short answer
Brewing executive Freddy Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer were kidnapped in Amsterdam on 9 November 1983 and held for three weeks until a ransom was paid for their release; all five kidnappers were eventually caught and served prison terms.
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for this caseFreddy Heineken, chairman of the board and CEO of Heineken International and one of the wealthiest people in the Netherlands, was kidnapped together with his driver, Ab Doderer, on 9 November 1983. The two men were seized at 18:56 in front of Heineken's office at the Weteringplantsoen in Amsterdam, after earlier attempts to abduct them at Heineken's home in Noordwijk had failed when the men did not appear there.
The kidnapping had been planned for about two years by Cor van Hout, Willem Holleeder, Frans Meijer, and Jan Boellaard, with Martin Erkamps joining the plot later. Heineken and Doderer were held for three weeks in a Quonset hut belonging to Boellaard's wood manufacturing company at the De Heining business park in Westpoort, in Amsterdam's harbour area. The hut had been modified in advance with a false double wall concealing two soundproof cells behind a hidden door, which shortened its 42-meter interior by four meters without the change being noticed. Outside working hours, the kidnappers provided for their two captives, who were tethered to a wall with chains.
On 30 November 1983, Heineken's family paid a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders (about US$18 million), against police advice, and the two men were released. The kidnappers fled the area before freeing their captives; police located Heineken and Doderer alive following what is described as a "lucky lead." In the aftermath, Van Hout and Holleeder escaped and fled to Paris, where French police arrested them on 29 February 1984.
Van Hout and Holleeder resisted extradition to the Netherlands for more than three years, a period spent on the run, in French custody, and then under house arrest in a French hotel from 6 December 1985 while a change to the extradition treaty was pending. In February 1986 they were moved through a series of French Caribbean territories, including Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, the French side of Saint Martin, and Île Tintamarre, before being returned to Europe and eventually extradited to the Netherlands on 31 October 1986. Meijer fled to Paraguay and lived there for years until he was located by journalist Peter R. de Vries and imprisoned in Paraguay; in 2003 he stopped resisting extradition and was transferred to a Dutch prison to serve the remainder of his sentence. All five kidnappers were eventually caught and served prison terms.
The kidnapping, the manhunt that followed, and the later trials and extraditions drew sustained national attention in the Netherlands, and several of the kidnappers later became well-known figures in Dutch organized crime. Van Hout was jailed again shortly after his release, this time for four years, for his role in a drug-smuggling ring. After two earlier failed attempts on his life, he was assassinated in Amstelveen on 24 January 2003, about a year after being freed a second time. His funeral, described as "mafia-style," included a white hearse drawn by eight Friesian horses leading a procession of fifteen white limousines.
Freddy Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer are kidnapped in front of Heineken's office at the Weteringplantsoen in Amsterdam.
Heineken and Doderer are released after Heineken's family pays a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders (about US$18 million), against police advice.
Cor van Hout and Willem Holleeder, who fled to Paris after the ransom was paid, are arrested by French police.
Van Hout and Holleeder are placed under house arrest in a French hotel while a change to the extradition treaty is pending.
Van Hout and Holleeder are transferred from house arrest to a series of French Caribbean territories, including Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, French Saint Martin, and Île Tintamarre, while continuing to resist extradition.
Van Hout and Holleeder are extradited to the Netherlands.
Frans Meijer, who had escaped to Paraguay, stops resisting extradition and is transferred to a Dutch prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Cor van Hout is assassinated in Amstelveen, about a year after being freed a second time.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Freddy Heineken's driver; kidnapped alongside Heineken on 9 November 1983 and held with him for three weeks before their release.[3]
Chairman of the board and CEO of Heineken International; kidnapped with his driver on 9 November 1983 and held for three weeks before being released after a ransom was paid.[3]
One of the kidnapping's principal planners; fled to Paris after the ransom was paid, was arrested by French police in February 1984, resisted extradition for more than three years, and was extradited to the Netherlands in October 1986 to serve a prison term. Later imprisoned again for drug smuggling and assassinated in 2003.[3]
One of the kidnapping's principal planners; escaped and lived in Paraguay for years until located by journalist Peter R. de Vries and imprisoned there. Stopped resisting extradition in 2003 and was transferred to a Dutch prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.[3]
One of the kidnapping's principal planners; owned the wood manufacturing company whose Quonset hut, at the De Heining business park in Westpoort, was used to hold the hostages. Was eventually caught and served a prison term.[3]
Joined the kidnapping plot after the other four had begun planning it; was eventually caught and served a prison term.[3]
One of the kidnapping's principal planners; fled to Paris with Cor van Hout after the ransom was paid, was arrested by French police in February 1984, resisted extradition for more than three years, and was extradited to the Netherlands in October 1986 to serve a prison term.[3]
From the record
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
Credit: Thomas KistGFDL 1.2SourceSOLVEDListenNear Oosterpark, Amsterdam, Netherlands · 2000s
Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, director of the film Submission, was fatally shot and stabbed while cycling to work in Amsterdam on 2 November 2004. Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Islamist who objected to the film, was convicted of the murder on 26 July 2005 and sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole.
SOLVEDListenLange Leidsedwarsstraat, near Leidseplein, Amsterdam · 2020s
Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries was shot in central Amsterdam on 6 July 2021 as he left a television studio, and died of his injuries nine days later. In June 2024, an Amsterdam court convicted three men, including the identified shooter and getaway driver, sentencing them to up to 28 years in prison for his murder.
Credit: Dick van AggelenPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenMedia Park, Hilversum, Netherlands · 2000s
Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, leader of the Pim Fortuyn List, was shot and killed in a car park in Hilversum on 6 May 2002, nine days before the general election. Volkert van der Graaf, an environmental and animal rights activist, was convicted of the assassination in April 2003 and sentenced to eighteen years in prison.
Credit: Federal Bureau of InvestigationPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenFort Wayne, Indiana · 1988
April Tinsley, an eight-year-old girl from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was kidnapped, raped, and strangled to death on April 1, 1988. The killing went unsolved for more than three decades, marked by taunting notes from her killer, until forensic genealogy identified John D. Miller as the perpetrator in 2018; Miller pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 80 years in prison.
Image recordEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenMatamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico · 1989
Mark Kilroy, a University of Texas at Austin student, was abducted during spring break in Matamoros, Mexico, in March 1989 and killed at a ranch used by a drug-trafficking cult led by Adolfo Constanzo; several cult members were convicted in 1993-1994 of homicide and other charges.
Credit: UnknwownEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenNear Greeley, Colorado · 1984
A 12-year-old girl who disappeared from her Greeley, Colorado, home in 1984 was found dead in 2019, and a former Greeley resident was convicted in 2022 of her kidnapping and murder.
