Details on suspects arrested for stealing Dacian treasure: a couple among them

One of the suspects previously convicted for looting houses.

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Two of the three suspects arrested in connection with the theft of the Dacian treasure from the Drents Museum were caught in Heerhugowaard, a stone’s throw from Alkmaar, where the VW Golf used in the burglary was stolen. According to locals, the two are a couple with two young children, reports the Dutch publication De Telegraaf.

The arrest caused a stir in the Schoorlaan neighborhood of the city of Heerhugowaard on Tuesday afternoon. It was about mid-afternoon,” recalled local resident Rico, who lives two houses down from those arrested.

“The police knocked on the door. They took the man and his wife.”

Locals say the couple are parents to two young children, who were reportedly taken in by other family members. “It’s sad, especially for those children,” said a neighbor of the couple.

Witnesses say the street was packed with police. “There was a SWAT team, regular police officers and a forensics team from what I understand,” Rico said.

A woman who lives two houses down received a call at work from her panicked children, aged 12 and 14, who when they came home from school saw the entire street transformed into a scene from a police drama. I told them: ‘Come inside immediately’! They did, but they were very shocked.”

Neighbors say the two suspects have a laid-back vibe. “I like them. They don’t bother, they say hello. She was always home with the kids,” says Rico, who can’t imagine the woman being involved in the robbery.

“She took care of the kids. Are they involved in an art heist? Of course not!”

The neighbor said he couldn’t imagine what happened at first. I thought: It can’t be drugs, can it? That’s the most obvious one, right? But that art heist… it’s even more stupid.”

Two residents say the woman is Iraqi, another says Iranian, and the man has Asian features.

The area in the Schoorlaan neighborhood where the two live is mostly social housing. It’s a less prosperous part of a well-kept neighborhood. Well, sometimes there’s noise, but otherwise nothing happens here,” Rico says.

A neighbor across the street doesn’t quite agree. There is a house here where there is always fighting and noise. I collected signatures for the tenants’ association. But this has nothing to do with those people who were taken by the police.”

In total, three people have been arrested for the robbery. Authorities have not released any information about the suspects’ backgrounds. Police in North Holland are still searching for at least one suspect. The stolen art treasures, a golden helmet and Dacian bracelets, have not yet been recovered. There are fears that the valuable artifacts could be melted down.

One of the suspects, previously convicted after breaking into a family’s home and robbing it

The suspects detained in the theft of Dacian treasures from the Drents Museum in Assen will be questioned on Friday, after which the prosecutor’s office may announce more about the case, writes the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. A fourth suspect who was filmed in the DIY store in Assen is still being sought. Bernhard Zeeman, 34, one of the suspects in the theft of the Dacian treasure from the Drents Museum in Assen, previously received a heavy prison sentence for a very violent house robbery in Heerhugowaard, reports De Telegraaf.

Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office released the name of Bernhard Zeeman on Thursday evening after he was arrested for possible involvement in the robbery of the Drents Museum in Assen last Saturday. Police also revealed the name of the other man arrested: Douglas Chesley Wendersteyt. The criminal investigation team needs more information about where the two men went after the museum robbery. Searches were carried out at the pair’s home in Heerhugowaard, but officers found no trace of the stolen artifacts. The two suspects are likely to refuse to talk, so the police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office have chosen to urge the public to come forward with any information that might help them, a strategy that is less frequently used, according to De Telegraaf.

Bernhard Zeeman’s criminal record

Bernhard Zeeman has a very extensive criminal record. In 2014, he was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for a violent home robbery in his hometown of Heerhugowaard. Three men rang the doorbell of a house and a 12-year-old girl opened the door. The thieves entered and tied up the parents, the girl and her 8-year-old brother. The family was then threatened with a gun. The criminals, including Zeeman, made off with jewelry and the family’s Audi A6. The thieves managed to escape after a dramatic police chase.

But with the help of the investigative show “Opsporing Verzocht” – which also covered the museum robbery this week – all three were arrested. A year later, the court charged them with aggravating circumstances – the presence of small children did not stop them from committing the robbery, and they even resorted to violence against them. When Zeeman was released on parole in 2018, things got even worse. He threatened the woman who was pregnant with his child with a gun.

Why did the names of the suspects appear in the press?

Publishing the name and photo of an arrested suspect is a decision that has only been made once before in the history of the Netherlands, until yesterday when investigators announced the two men arrested in connection with the robbery of the Assen museum, reports the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf.

Justice Minister Van Weel said that the suspects themselves had a choice: either say where the stolen Dacian treasure is, or their name and photo appear online.

Criminologist Jasper van der Kemp of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam says it is an extremely rare gesture. It is a strategic move that is clearly related to the pursuit of the treasure. The police may have serious indications that there have been contacts with third parties. Or, clearly, they hope that this can provide clues,” explains Van der Kemp.

He points out that it is surprising that the identity of the woman arrested in the investigation was not made public at the same time as the two men. Maybe now more is known about the role of the men through concrete information.”

“The prosecution must have a very good underlying motivation to use this unique method. The reason invoked by Minister Van Weel would, in my opinion, represent an inappropriate interrogation method, which would constitute a form of unjustified pressure,” says lawyer and criminal law professor Geert-Jan Knoops.

He believes that there was a clear violation of the legal system that can have consequences for the criminal trial, which is why he believes there was significant evidence that led the investigators to take this decision. “Lawyers can use this to reduce the sentence. The judiciary has also made this assessment and accepted this risk.”

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