After DNA match and manhunt, scout worker is arrested and agrees to extradition over Dutch boy’s 1998 killing
Nicky Verstappen, 11, was raped and murdered after he vanished from a summer camp
A survival expert arrested near Barcelona over the brutal 1998 rape and killing of a young Dutch boy after one of the most extensive murder investigations to date in the Netherlands agreed on Monday to be extradited from Spain.
Spanish police arrested Joseph Brech, 55, on Sunday afternoon in a mountainous area near the town of Castelltercol some 50km from Barcelona while he was going out to cut wood.
The authorities believe Brech – an experienced mountain climber who had scaled Mount Everest – killed eleven-year-old Nicky Verstappen who vanished two decades ago on August 9 at a summer camp in southern Limburg province, near the German border. Brech had worked at the camp at the time, according to Spanish police.
Verstappen’s body was found a day after his disappearance close to the camp site, with authorities later confirming he had been sexually abused before his death.
Police at the time mounted a massive search closely followed by Dutch media and the public, but the killer remained on the loose – until advanced DNA testing earlier this year led officers to Brech.