A Dutch gangland boss who gained notoriety after the kidnapping of a Heineken beer tycoon in the 1980s has been described by prosecutors as a “cold, vulgar” killer as he stands trial for five counts of murder, one count of manslaughter and two counts of attempted murder.



A secure courtroom in Amsterdam, known as De Bunker, heard that Willem Holleeder was “the best-known Dutch product after cheese” in criminal circles.

Known as “The Nose”, due to the size of his nose, Holleeder stands accused of a string of murders and attempted murders between 2002 and 2006, including that of his old friend and accomplice in the Heineken kidnapping, Cor van Hout. A boat salesman standing close to the intended victim at the time was also shot dead.

Holleeder, 59, allegedly also attempted to orchestrate a hit on his sister from his cell after she provided the police with secret recordings of incriminating conversations between the two of them. He has been in a maximum security prison at Vught, in the southern Netherlands, for three years awaiting his day in court.

Holleeder became a household name in 1983 for his role in the abduction of Freddy Heineken and his driver, a criminal enterprise that was made into a movie starring Anthony Hopkins, titled Kidnapping Freddy Heineken.

The two hostages were released after a ransom of 35m Dutch guilders (£12.5m today) was paid – of which a quarter was never recovered. Holleeder was caught hiding out in Paris and sentenced in 1987 to 11 years in prison, of which he served five.

On the opening day of his trial over the latest charges, Holleeder’s lawyer Sander Janssen told the court the fact that his client was involved in Amsterdam’s criminal underworld did not prove “that he had an interest in or played a role in ordering liquidations”.

Janssen said that it would be shown that Holleeder’s sisters, Astrid and Sonja, and ex-girlfriend Sandra den Hartog, had conspired to blacken the defendant’s name.

The court, which is expected to sit for 60 days, was told that Holleeder had insisted to police that he was not a central figure in the underworld but that this dubious honour belonged to a mysterious individual described by the defendant only as “the all-knower”.

Sabine Tammes, speaking for the prosecution, offered an alternative take on Holleeder’s career. The prosecution noted that the defendant had been described in the recent past as a knuffelcrimineel, or huggable criminal, due to his efforts to court the media, and become a celebrity figure, culminating in a speaking tour of colleges in 2012.

But Tammes said the charge sheet revealed “cold, calculated and merciless liquidations that have only brought disaster and destruction”.

She added: “It’s about giving the next of kin a voice; it would be nice if it could be determined why their loved ones had to die.

“This process is also one of demythologisation: there is no top criminal or cuddly criminal, but a cold, vulgar kidnapper and murderer.”