Quote · Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder
Ep. 116 | You Won't Believe How This Cold Case Was Solved | Nicole van den Hurk
Where this was said
Trial, Defense Tactics, and the Fight Over DNA Reliability
At 40:15 · chapter starts 36:55
Prosecutors formally charged Jos de Gee with rape and murder in April 2014, but by July 3 the murder charge had been downgraded to manslaughter after forensic evidence fell short — a reduction Nicole's family called a betrayal of justice. At trial in Den Bosch, de Gee's defense attorney Jaap Knuster built a case around strategic vagueness: first claiming de Gee had never crossed paths with Nicole, then pivoting to a claim that the two might have had consensual contact in the days before her death — a claim prosecutors dismissed outright given Nicole was 15 and de Gee was in his late twenties. The defense also pointed to the presence of other males' DNA and outrageously floated the claim that Nicole may have been pregnant when killed — with no basis. The real battleground was the DNA itself: the partial nature of the match meant the defense had an opening, and experts from the NFI and IFS couldn't agree on what the evidence proved. The samples were sent to New Zealand for probabilistic genotyping — a first for Dutch courts — and the result, presented in April 2016, was 2.28 million to 1 in favour of de Gee's DNA being present. Two psychiatric institution inmates also came forward separately saying de Gee had told them he killed a girl, but their testimony was ultimately kept out of formal evidence.
With Dutch experts unable to agree on what the mixed DNA proved, the samples were shipped to New Zealand for probabilistic genotyping — a method that mathematically separates multiple contributors. The result: 2.28 million to 1 odds that de Gee's DNA was part of that mixture.
No Dutch case had ever previously used probabilistic genotyping — the math-driven method applied by New Zealand analysts to separate the mixed DNA found on Nicole's remains.
Probabilistic genotyping applied in New Zealand placed the odds that the three DNA strands belonged to de Gee and two others rather than three strangers at 2.28 million to 1.
In the November 2016 first-trial verdict, Jos de Gee was convicted only of rape and sentenced to 5 years — with 2 already served — and was acquitted of manslaughter due to the unknown third DNA profile.
In November 2016, Jos de Gee was convicted only of rape and given 5 years — with 2 already served. The court acquitted him of manslaughter because an unidentified third DNA profile couldn't be ruled out as a factor in Nicole's death. The family was shattered; the sentence lasted just 8 days before it was appealed.
