Police start campaign in Amsterdam Red Light District to solve cold case of murdered sex worker
Amsterdam - Starting on 9 November, the Amsterdam police is about to make an ultimate attempt to find out who killed 19-year-old sex worker Bernadett ‘Betty’ Szabó in 2009. In an extensive week-long campaign in the Amsterdam Red Light District, various methods will be deployed to draw the public’s attention to this young woman’s tragic death. The most eye-catching of these is a hologram based on Betty’s looks which is behind a window and asks passers-by to help solve the case.
Hungarian-born Betty left for Amsterdam when she was 18 and started working as a prostitute in the red-light district. She became pregnant in this period but kept working throughout her pregnancy and started again shortly after her baby was born. Three months after Betty gave birth, she was brutally murdered in her workroom.
On the night of 19 February 2009, two fellow sex workers realised they hadn’t seen Betty in her workroom on Oudezijds Achterburgwal, and they hadn’t heard the music she usually played either. At first her colleagues thought that Betty might have had a bad day or might have gone home early. But around 1:00 a.m. when they had time, they decided to check on Betty. What they found was a horrific scene: Betty was lying dead in a pool of blood in her workroom. She had been stabbed dozens of times.
‘Someone must know’
The police started a large-scale investigation immediately after Betty was discovered. The crime scene was investigated meticulously, traces were secured, and camera footage was studied. Several witnesses were interviewed by criminal investigators. However, the investigation got stuck and despite all their efforts, the investigation team failed to solve the murder, so the murder became a cold case.
Later, when the Amsterdam Cold Case Team looked at Betty’s case again, the investigators quickly agreed that they were going to make an ultimate attempt to find out who the perpetrators in this sad case are. ‘Although, of course, every murder case is terrible, Betty’s story is particularly poignant in a number of ways. A young girl, just turned nineteen, who was robbed of her life in a horrible way. And who didn’t have an easy life before she died. She worked long hours as a sex worker and kept working until just before she gave birth to her son. This son was placed with a foster family shortly afterwards and never had the chance to get to know his mother’, explains Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk, member of the Cold Case Team.
However, the most important reason for asking attention for this case again is that the team is convinced that there is someone who knows more about it and has not shared that information yet. ‘Betty was murdered in one of the busiest areas in Amsterdam, maybe even in the Netherlands. It is really almost impossible that there are no people who saw or heard something unusual at the time. Or heard someone talk about the case, which doesn’t even have to have been in Amsterdam, because, after all, the red-light district gets visitors from all over the world. Fifteen years have gone by since. We hope witnesses who may have been afraid before or kept silent for other reasons now have the courage to come forward. The fact that the reward has been raised to 30,000 euro may also help them do so,’ says Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk.
Innovative communication campaign
The police try to reach these crucial witnesses by setting up an innovative campaign around Betty’s murder. For one week, starting from Saturday 9 November, various methods will be deployed in the Amsterdam red-light district to draw the public’s attention to the case. For example, a house at the corner of Korte Stormsteeg and Oudezijds Achterburgwal will be devoted entirely to the murder case. There will be large stickers on the windows with information about the case, and television screens showing, among other things, the crime scene, the last film images made of Betty while still alive, and a documentary. The third element in the house is likely to turn most heads: a life-size hologram based on Betty’s looks.
The computer visualisation of Betty sits on a stool in a window, trying to make contact with passers-by and asking them for help. The holographic representation of the victim was made by means of 3D visualisation technology, something the Amsterdam police have not used before. Benjamin van Gogh, coordinator of the Amsterdam Wanted and Missing Persons Team and responsible for the campaign: ‘This is the first time we do something like this and, to be honest, we’re a bit nervous. We want to do justice to Betty, to her family and friends, and to the case. Therefore, before deciding to use a hologram for the campaign, we brainstormed with different parties both within and outside the police on whether we should go ahead with this and how we should set it up. Of course, there has also been contact with her relatives about this. We are committed to doing this with dignity and with the clear purpose of achieving some form of justice for Betty by finding her murderer or murderers.’ The Cold Case Team and the Wanted and Missing Persons Team hope that the visualisation of Betty will engender widespread attention for the case, so that people with information will be reached and possibly encouraged to contact the police. ‘It is difficult to determine what it takes to get possible witnesses in this case to share their information with us’, explains Van Gogh. ‘So, the reward has been raised, but we also believe that Betty’s hologram may create a certain connection with her and thus convince a person to come forward. In this type of case, we always try to put a face on a victim, so that informants know who they’re doing it for, and the hologram is a way of taking this a step further.’ In addition to all the activities at the house, posters will be put up in the area and flyers will be handed out.
Share information
If you are curious about what the police are doing for the case in the Amsterdam red-light district, come and have a look between Saturday 9 and Friday 15 November. Betty’s hologram can be seen at Korte Stormsteeg 2. All information about Betty’s murder can be found in the file below.
If you want to share information, call the free tip-off line on 0800 - 6070 or email to coldcase.amsterdam@politie.nl. You can also fill in the tip-off form below. You can also give information anonymously via Meld Misdaad Anoniem (Crimestoppers NL) on 0800 - 7000. If you prefer to have a confidential talk with someone from the Criminal Intelligence Team, call 088 - 661 77 34.
