Justice demanded five years in prison on Wednesday against a man suspected of being guilty of the death of two men from Bunschoten. He illegally made dangerous medicines available to them, according to the Public Prosecution Service.
Passing away
On Sunday, October 31, 2021, Bunschoten was shocked by the sudden and almost simultaneous death of two men from the village, one in his twenties and one in his thirties. The two men are found dead in their beds.
The suspicion soon arises that their deaths are the result of the use of narcotics. Initially, the investigation focuses on the illegal trade in and possession of medicines and drugs. During the investigation, the suspicion arises that a 31-year-old Bunschoter is legally responsible for the death of the two men.
Dead
After the death of the two men, the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) is investigating the cause of death. This shows that both died as a result of an overdose of methadone. In addition to methadone, traces of non-lethal cocaine use are also found.
Various testimonies show that the victims more often used various types of drugs and non-prescribed medicines, but also that the intake of methadone was not common.
The trace of the delivery of the resources used leads the police to 31-year-old Bunschoter. During searches, a large amount of medication and narcotics are found in his house, in a car and in a holiday home. Statements and data from his telephone, among other things, show that the suspect was active in the trade in medicines and drugs.
Swap
During the investigation it becomes clear how things could have gone wrong. In the view of the Public Prosecution Service, the two victims took methadone pills while they thought they had received temazepam tablets. These pills came from the house of the suspect and were given by a friend of one of the victims who also became ill after taking them. A tapped telephone conversation between the suspect and his mother and several witness statements confirm this course of events. The methadone pills resemble temazepam tablets and were in a plastic zipper bag, without any name or information leaflet.
How exactly the victim’s friend got hold of the methadone pills has not become entirely clear. According to the Public Prosecution Service, it is in any case established that the friend wanted to take temazepam tablets from the suspect. The suspect was not home at the time, but his girlfriend was. After telephone contact with the suspect, either his girlfriend provided the methadone pills at his request, or these were taken by the customer himself.
Reckless
Although the suspect did not intend the death of the two men, he is, in the eyes of the Public Prosecution Service (OM) in the Central Netherlands, to blame. This is apparent, among other things, from the fact that the suspect, without being physically present, nevertheless gave the opportunity to take pills and he also did not check afterwards what had been obtained.
It was also taken into account that the suspect kept a large quantity and different types of pills, including loose ones and without inscription or captions, and that he knew that methadone and temazepam tablets resemble each other.
In addition, it appears that he was also aware that the methadone pills could be deadly to non-used users. According to the public prosecutor, this constitutes culpable homicide due to recklessness in a legal sense. It is also heavily blamed on the suspect that during the temporary suspension of his pre-trial detention, despite the recent death of two victims, he was again active in the drug trade. A demand of five years in prison is therefore appropriate.
Firework
The death of the two men reflects the risks associated with this, according to the public prosecutor: ‘The sentence is a message to others who are involved in a similar way with heavy drugs. And unfortunately there are still enough of them. They are playing with fire,” he said.
On behalf of the surviving relatives, the court has been asked to oblige the suspect to pay more than 73,000 euros in damages.
