Peter R. DE VRIES

Image Credit: DWDD/WikkiCommons

Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries died in Amsterdam on 15 July 2021 nine days after being shot five times, including in the head, after leaving a TV appearance. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, condemned the killing, stating on 15 July 2021 that ‘investigative journalists are vital to our democracies. We must do everything we can to protect them’. 

Two suspects were arrested soon after the shooting; seven other suspects were subsequently arrested in the investigation. All nine men went on trial in Amsterdam in January 2024. On 12 June 2024, the court issued verdicts against the suspects, ranging from four weeks to 28 years of imprisonment. Two men were acquitted. The Public Prosecution Service subsequently filed an appeal, calling for harsher sentences (see Case Lists 2021-2025).  

On 11 December 2025, the Amsterdam Court of Appeals sentenced Delano G., the man who shot de Vries, and getaway driver Kamil E. to 27.5 years in prison. Krystian M., who organised the killing, was sentenced to 26 years and one month in prison. Five men received sentences ranging from four weeks to 10 years of imprisonment. One man was acquitted. At least four of those convicted have appealed to the Supreme Court.  

Peter R. de Vries, born on 14 November 1956, was a well-respected investigative journalist and crime reporter, who won critical acclaim for his reporting on the Dutch underworld. He notably worked for De Telegraaf and had his own television crime programme: Peter R. de Vries, misdaadverslaggever (Crime Reporter). He is the author of Kidnapping Mr. Heineken, an international bestseller. Before he was killed, de Vries had acted as an adviser to the key prosecution witness against alleged drug kingpin Ridouan Taghi. Derk Wiersum, the lawyer of a state witness in the case, was shot dead in Amsterdam in 2019.