Bram Zeegers (15 March 1949, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

– 9 October 2007, in Amsterdam) was a Dutch lawyer. Zeegers was a key witness in the 2007 murder and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

trial of suspected crime boss

Willem Holleeder Willem Frederik Holleeder (born 29 May 1958) is a Dutch criminal. He is nicknamed ''De Neus'' (''The Nose'') because of the size of his nose. In 1983, Holleeder was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment for his involvement in the kidnapping o ...

. Holleeder was on trial for the 17 May 2004 murder of Dutch

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

businessman Willem Endstra. Holleeder is also suspected of blackmailing several other businessmen. Zeegers testified in

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

over two days that Holleeder and his associates had extorted millions of

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

from Endstra between 2000 and 2004. He also testified about the tense relationship between Holleeder and Endstra before the latter's 2004 murder. Holleeder had maintained that he and Endstra had an amicable relationship.

Death

Bram Zeegers was found dead in his Amsterdam apartment, less than one week after he had testified at Holleeder's

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

. The sudden and unexpected death of Zeegers led to speculation that he may have been murdered and received much coverage in the Dutch media. However, Zeegers was found to have died of an accidental

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

of the drug ecstasy. According to a story in the Dutch newspaper,

Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized ...

, Zeegers was found to have ecstasy in his body that consisted of 97% pure

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for recreational purposes. The desire ...

, which is extremely high. The chances of dying from an MDMA overdose is around one in 100,000. Zeegers' Brazilian girlfriend, who bought the drugs, was held in connection with the case before being released, though she remains a suspect. Three suspects in all were arrested and held in connection with the production of the drug that killed Zeegers. No connection between Zeegers' death and his

testimony In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. ...

in the Willem Holleeder trial has so far been found. Zeegers' death is now widely regarded as an accidental overdose. The trial resumed on 22 October 2007, after a recess to investigate Zeegers' death.

Legacy

In March 2013, Neal Stevens of Subsim introduced the monthly Abraham award on the site, in memory of Zeegers, who had been a member of the site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeegers, Bram 1949 births 2007 deaths Lawyers from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch lawyers Drug-related deaths in the Netherlands 21st-century Dutch lawyers