Cornelis (Cor) van Hout (18 August 1957 – 24 January 2003) was a Dutch

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

and mastermind of the kidnapping of beer magnate

Freddy Heineken Alfred Henry "Freddy" Heineken (4 November 1923 – 3 January 2002) was a Dutch businessman for Heineken International, the brewing company bought in 1864 by his grandfather Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. He served as chairman of the boar ...

Life

Kidnapping and imprisonment

During the abduction, Van Hout collaborated with

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 ...

, Frans Meijer,

Martin Erkamps Freddy Heineken, chairman of the board of directors and Chief executive officer, CEO of the brewing company Heineken International and one of the richest people in the Netherlands, and his driver Ab Doderer, were kidnapped on 9 November 1983 in A ...

and Jan Boellaard. The five men abducted

and his driver Ab Doderer in front of Heineken's office on 9 November 1983, after which they imprisoned the two men for a period of three weeks in a

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I ...

Westpoort Westpoort (''Western Gateway or Western Port'') is a borough (''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The borough covers the Port of Amsterdam, the main harbour and industrial area of the city, and is located in the north-western part of ...

, a part of Amsterdam, asking a ransom for Heineken of 35 million guilders. After the release of the hostages on 30 November, Van Hout and Holleeder managed to escape. They both fled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. However, the two men were arrested by the French police on 29 February 1984. They fought extradition to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and were at first placed under house arrest in a hotel on 6 December 1985, before being transferred on 13 February 1986 first to

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

, then to

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English ...

, then to the French part of Saint Martin, then to

Île Tintamarre Île Tintamarre, also known as Flat Island, is a small island with an area of approximately . It is located in the Caribbean Sea, about from the island of Saint Martin, and is administered as part of the French overseas collectivity of Saint ...

, then again to Guadeloupe. Finally, they were taken back to Europe, where they were at first held in a hotel in Évry before being brought to a French prison. They were finally extradited to the Netherlands on 31 October 1986. On 19 February 1987, Van Hout and Holleeder were both sentenced to eleven years in prison, with deduction of the time they had already spent in confinement. Shortly after his release Van Hout was jailed once again, this time for four years, for his role in a

drug smuggling The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, except under license, ...

ring. After two earlier failed attempts, Van Hout was assassinated on 24 January 2003 in

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages o ...

, a year after being freed a second time, and had a "

mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

-style" funeral, with a white hearse pulled by eight

Friesian horse The Friesian (also Frizian) is a horse breed originating in Friesland, in the Netherlands. Although the conformation of the breed resembles that of a light draught horse, Friesians are graceful and nimble for their size. It is believed that ...

s leading a procession of 15 white limousines. In July 2019, his former friend Willem Holleeder was convicted for his involvement in a series of murders, including ordering the assassination of Van Hout, and the manslaughter of a person who was accompanying Van Hout at the time of the assassination.''Dutch Heineken kidnapper jailed for life for gangland murders''
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hout, Cor van 1957 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Dutch criminals 21st-century Dutch criminals Dutch kidnappers Murdered criminals Criminals from Amsterdam