Dutch TV investigator dies nine days after the attack, which may be linked to the reporter’s work .. An obituary.
The best way to think about things was on a bicycle. “I drive all year round. Outside in summer, inside in winter ”, said Peter R. de Vries in an interview with the Dutch newspaper“ de Volkskrant ”and frankly admitted:“ I’m a bit obsessive about that. If I want to drive 75 kilometers, I’ll drive at least 75 and not 74. ”There is no doubt that the man could not be dissuaded from his goal.
The journalist de Vries made others feel that too. If it wasn’t fast enough for him, he would move on alone. In 1978 de Vries began his career as a police reporter for the tabloid “Telegraaf”, reporting on the kidnapping of the brewery lion Freddy Heineken. A book on the case is coming out soon. But de Vries soon noticed that writing was not enough for him. He investigates himself, on his own, using unconventional means. He himself tracks down one of the Heineken kidnappers in South America and was friends with the other, Cor van Hout.
Always a little unpredictable, but always straightforward. “On bended knee is no way to be free,” de Vries had himself tattooed on his lower leg. With a bent knee, never means free. A reminder of his father’s grave inscription: “Better to die upright than stooped.”
De Vries always went straight through life. Sometimes some found him arrogant, while others thought he was a pit bull. Which was meant to be appreciative. De Vries saw himself as a fighter for justice. In a country like the Netherlands, where the judiciary is easily perceived as overly lenient, that made him a hero. In his television program “Peter R. de Vries, misdaadsverslaaggever”, he not only called for wanted tips for investigators. De Vries himself investigated, arrested murderers and wrongly brought convicts out of prison. “I’m no longer just a journalist,” said de Vries, “I’ve become an institution.”
He knew that. And let others feel it too. But never those who trusted in him. On Tuesday of this week, Tanja Groen’s parents were still sitting in the studio for the program “RTL boulevard” and collected more than one million euros in donations. With the reward they want to finally get clarity about the disappearance of their daughter, who has been missing since 1993. De Vries had taken on the case. He can no longer enlighten him himself. De Vries died on Thursday at the age of 64 from his serious injuries – nine days after he was gunned down in Amsterdam.
Two men were arrested shortly after the crime. One of them is said to be the Sagittarius. According to the dpa, the police had not yet commented on the background to the crime. However, there are many indications that the murder is related to the reporter’s work.
