OM has retrieved six suspects who held ‘energy sessions’ in 2021 at a cemetery in Amersfoort

After three years of searching, the Public Prosecution Service has obsolete six suspects of burial who held paranormal ‘energy sessions’ in September 2021 at the Rusthof cemetery in Leusden. At the children’s field of that cemetery, they tried to call after closing time with light balls and heat cameras. The families of the deceased knew nothing, fifty relatives reported when they leaked afterwards.

The ‘spiritual researchers’, as they called themselves, had for those séances Got permission from the then director of the cemetery, a senior official of the municipality of Amersfoort. The mayor of Amersfoort, Lucas Bolsius, could not tell the relatives for a long time why that permission was granted and who those ‘spiritual researchers’ were. He did call in the National Ombudsman who, after investigation, concluded that the permission should never have been granted.

Who do we have contact with?

For a number of relatives, the burial was so intense that they wanted their loved ones to be reburied elsewhere. In fifteen cases that has now happened, at the expense of the municipality.

On leaked video images it was shown how paranormal research went in practice: « Who did we contact? », A question was addressed to a deceased, while a light ball flashed at a grave. (…) « Do you find it a bit scary that everyone comes to watch? » Was the next question. « Can you let the light burn one more time? Then we know that you’re there. (…) Good boy. Do you also love football? » Or with another grave: « Are you an older lady? Did your death go very quickly? »

Cracked phone

The Public Prosecution Service took a long time to find out if there had actually been burial and who were the possible perpetrators. In October 2023, one participant in the ‘paranormal sessions’ was prosecuted for grave. According to the OM, it was for the first time that such a form of burial would be brought to court. In that investigation, the police also managed to track down the other participants. That succeeded through the phone from the first suspect to ‘squatt’, making a large number of data available, including the personalia of the other suspects.

Four of the six are actually being prosecuted, the OM announced on Wednesday. It was not possible to determine whether they had actually been guilty of graves from the other two. This also applies to the two civil servants of the municipality of Amersfoort: they were responsible for the permission and the course of affairs on that evening, but had not been guilty of graves according to the OM. The two civil servants no longer work at the municipality. At the time, an integrity investigation was conducted according to the director of the cemetery, but a spokesperson for the municipality does not want to say anything about the results.

Unique criminal case

The suspects who have to answer to the court are a 46-year-old woman from Nieuwkoop, the first suspect to be arrested, and three women aged 36, 41 and 79, from Rotterdam, Waalwijk and Hoevelaken. The Public Prosecution Service wants a multiple criminal chamber of three judges to look over the case, instead of the police judge, because it hardly happens in the Netherlands that a case for gravestance comes to court. It must also offer space for the fifty relatives, who have more time to get a story in the multiple criminal room.

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