The story of Europe’s largest ransom: by _IainMartin
, van Hout paints a picture of early success based on a legitimate construction business, scoring property deals by using strong-arm tactics on squatters, along with other shady activities that resulted in brushes with the law. Van Hout claims the men started to seek a big score after an economic downturn cramped their passions for luxury cars, race horses and partying.
Heineken, a champion of Dutch business, was already on the men’s radar for reasons other than being “filthy rich,” in van Hout’s words. Van Hout talked of sneaking looks at the beer magnate’s Mercedes-Benz as a child, and his friend Holleeder’s father was a long-term employee of the brewery . The driver and the billionaire were stripped of their clothes and belongings and chained inside the tiny rooms, isolated from the outside world and each other. Heineken later said he’d feared that he’d been kidnapped by West Germany’s notorious Red Army Faction and worried that the cell’s air pipe would fail.
The ordeal weighed heavily on Doderer, who had worked for Heineken for 40 years, and the kidnappers themselves voiced remorse about the toll on the driver. “Don't lose my wits; I must keep busy to stay alive. After a few days I made a program for myself to keep busy. I tried to do exercises despite everything. I had to keep busy,” Doderer told reporters after his release.
Days of silence followed before the gang and negotiators re-established contact through coded newspaper advertisements. In the meantime, police acting on an anonymous tip had put the gang under surveillance and tracked the crew, eventually zeroing in on the warehouse after watching the kidnappers order Chinese takeout for two.
The day after the ransom exchange, the gang spotted that they were under police surveillance and arranged a meeting to discuss their plans. They were divided on whether to flee the Netherlands or stay. Meijer decided to stay put, and van Hout and and Holleeder opted to flee to Paris. Van Hout and Holleeder would remain on the run, or in legal limbo in France and the French Caribbean, until they were extradited and finally convicted of the kidnapping in 1987.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken: The Story of Europe’s Largest RansomWhen gunmen seized Freddy Heineken and his chauffeur outside the brewery's Amsterdam headquarters, it sparked a global manhunt for the missing billionaire, his kidnappers and the $11 million ransom by _IainMartin
Read more »
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken: The Story of Europe’s Largest RansomWhen gunmen seized Freddy Heineken and his chauffeur outside the brewery's Amsterdam headquarters it sparked a global manhunt for the missing billionaire, his kidnappers and the $11 million ransom.
Read more »
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken: The Story of Europe’s Largest RansomWhen gunmen seized Freddy Heineken and his chauffeur outside the brewery's Amsterdam headquarters, it sparked a global manhunt for the missing billionaire, his kidnappers and the $11 million ransom by _IainMartin
Read more »
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken: The Story of Europe’s Largest RansomWhen gunmen seized Freddy Heineken and his chauffeur outside the brewery's Amsterdam headquarters it sparked a global manhunt for the missing billionaire, his kidnappers and the $11 million ransom.
Read more »
Billionaires Stewart And Lynda Resnick Pledge $750 Million To Caltech For Climate Change Crisis ResearchThe donation is the largest gift in Caltech's history, and the second-largest gift to a U.S. academic institution.
Read more »