ABSTRACT
It is commonly agreed that contemporary criminal investigation techniques in the Netherlands commenced as a result of the aftermath of the Schiedam Park Murder in 2000. In this case the suspect Cees B. confessed to the police he had raped and killed a 10-year-old girl and also raped and attempted to kill an 11-year-old boy two months earlier in the Beatrixpark in the Dutch city of Schiedam. Cees B. withdrew his confession one day later, but in 2002 the Appeal Court in the Netherlands sentenced him to 18 years. However, in 2004 another man, Wik H., was found to be the real perpetrator. Although the Schiedam Park Murder was not the only miscarriage of justice in the Netherlands during the 1990s and first years of the new century, it is perhaps the most thoroughly reviewed one (e.g. Van Koppen et al., 2010; Clément et al., 2009; Posthumus, 2005; Van Koppen, 2003). The Schiedam case resulted in an improvement programme for the public prosecution service, the National Institute of Forensics and the police (Openbaar Ministerie, 2005).
