A prominent crime reporter
Peter R. de Vries was one of the Netherlands' best-known crime reporters. In addition to decades of reporting on criminal cases, he acted as an adviser and confidant to the crown witness in the Marengo organized-crime prosecution.
On July 6, 2021, De Vries left the RTL Boulevard television studio in central Amsterdam and was shot nearby. He was taken to hospital and died from his injuries on July 15.
Investigation and prosecution
The criminal investigation expanded beyond the shooter and driver to people accused of organizing the killing, supplying assistance and participating in a broader criminal network. The Dutch courts treated the attack as a planned liquidation rather than an impulsive act.
Because the case ultimately involved numerous defendants with different alleged roles, responsibility must be stated individually. Conviction for participating in a criminal organization is not the same as conviction for De Vries's murder, and several defendants were acquitted of specific murder-related allegations.
The 2024 trial
On June 12, 2024, the Amsterdam District Court convicted Delano G., Kamil E. and Krystian M. of the murder. Delano G. and Kamil E. received 28 years each. Krystian M., who had organized and directed the immediate operation, received 26 years and one month after the statutory effect of an earlier sentence was taken into account.
The court convicted three other men of complicity and acquitted other defendants of some or all of the charges against them. It did not find the prosecution's proposed terrorist objective proved at first instance.
The appeal court reassessed individual roles
On December 11, 2025, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal convicted Delano G., Kamil E. and Krystian M. as co-perpetrators of the murder. Delano G. and Kamil E. each received 27 years and six months. Krystian M. received 26 years and one month.
Konrad W. was convicted of complicity in the murder and received ten years. The appeal court acquitted Erickson O. and Gerower M. of murder complicity but convicted them of participation in a criminal organization, giving each five years. Divainy K. received four years for criminal-organization participation. Ludgardo S. was acquitted of complicity and received four weeks for drug possession. Christopher W. was acquitted.
The higher-level principal remained unidentified
The appeal court described Krystian M. as the person who accepted the murder assignment and directed others, but it also stated that he had received that assignment from an as-yet unidentified principal. The page therefore does not claim that the complete command chain behind the murder has been judicially identified.
The court nevertheless treated the role of De Vries as adviser and confidant to the Marengo crown witness as central to the context and seriousness of the killing when explaining the severe sentences imposed on the principal convicted participants.
Related proceedings were not all finished
The official Dutch judiciary case overview lists the December 2025 appeal judgments as the latest completed stage for the nine-defendant appeal. It also records a separate case against a tenth defendant that remained in the preparatory phase at the time of the latest official update reviewed for this page.
For that reason, the murder itself is classified here as solved and extensively adjudicated, while the broader surrounding criminal proceedings are not described as universally finished.
Timeline
July 6, 2021: Peter R. de Vries is shot after leaving a television studio in Amsterdam.
July 15, 2021: he dies from his injuries.
June 12, 2024: the Amsterdam District Court issues the principal first-instance convictions and acquittals.
October–November 2025: the Amsterdam Court of Appeal conducts the substantive appeal hearings.
December 11, 2025: the appeal court convicts three men as co-perpetrators of murder, convicts Konrad W. of complicity, changes several other verdicts and imposes sentences up to 27.5 years.
2026: the official judiciary overview still lists a separate tenth-defendant case in preparation.
Current status
The murder of Peter R. de Vries is solved in the sense that Dutch courts have convicted the shooter, driver and operational organizer as co-perpetrators, while another defendant was convicted of complicity. The appeal court also imposed or revised convictions for criminal-organization participation. At the same time, the court said the higher-level person who gave Krystian M. the murder assignment remained unidentified, and a separate tenth-defendant case was still pending in the preparatory phase.