This Day in History – Freddy Heineken Kidnapped

On this day Nov 9th 1983, Freddy Heineken and his chauffeur Ab Doderer were kidnapped and held on a $10 Million Dollar ransom. The kidnappers Cor van Hout, Willem Holleeder, Jan Boelaard, Frans Meijer, and Martin Erkamps, were eventually caught and served their prison terms. Before being extradited Van Hout and Holleeder stayed for more than three years in France, first on the run, then in prison, and then, awaiting a change of the extradition treaty, then with house arrest, and finally in prison again. Meijer escaped and lived in Paraguay for years, until he was discovered by Peter R. de Vries and imprisoned there. In 2003, Meijer stopped resisting his extradition to the Netherlands, and was transferred to a Dutch prison to serve the last part of his term. A film of the kidnapping, with Rutger Hauer playing Freddy Heineken, was released in October 2011. A second film, based on De Vries’ book about the kidnapping, is planned to be produced by Informant Media, with the scenario to be written by William Brookfield.