On Dec 12, 2018 Jos Brech appeared in court. He denied having abused, kidnapped, and killed Nicky Verstappen (11) in 1998.
The prosecution explained where Brech’s DNA was found: most (18 spots) was on all four sides of Nicky’s underwear, one spot on his PJ bottoms, and one spot on his body. They also found two of Brech’s hairs on the underwear and two on the PJ bottoms. They said that this cannot be explained by ordinary contamination. There was contact with Nicky on purpose and not in an accidental manner.
Other DNA profiles were found too but as of yet they are unidentified. If I understand it correctly, there are three unidentified profiles. These strands were found on the underwear, PJ bottoms, and Nicky’s left arm. No sperm was found.
In reference to the child pornography found in Brech’s possession he stated that he searched for the images as he is interested in photography.
The defense explained the inside-out wearing of the underwear as an innocent action that happens while camping and getting dressed with minimal lighting.
The next proforma session is scheduled for March 8, 2019. Not that this is not an arraignment. Every country has its own criminal law procedures. Brech has not been formally charged with anything.
Short case description:
On Aug 10, 1998 Nicky Verstappen (March 13, 1987 – Aug 10, 1998) disappeared from a summer camp that was organised by local youth groups at De Heikop, Brunssummerheide, Limburg, the Netherlands. The night before he went missing, all camp activities ended at 10pm. Then the kids went back to their tents and it was lights out. Nicky (11) was last seen around the tent he shared with other kids at 5am. Three hours later he was gone.
On Aug 22, 2018 Dutch Police announced a discovery: they got DNA off Nicky’s clothes. With familial DNA searches they narrowed down the group of suspects and zoomed in on Jos Brech. He officially became the suspect. A national and international APB were issued as Brech went missing. His family told police Brech went hiking in the Vosges, France. He was arrested Aug 26, 2018 in Northern Spain. Madrid High Court judges decided on Aug 27, 2018 to extradite Brech (55) to the Netherlands.
Contact information:
If you have any information that can further this case please contact the Dutch Police at these numbers: calling from the Netherlands: 0900-8844 and when calling from abroad: +31 34 357 88 44.