Post by hi224 on Jun 6, 2019 19:40:06 GMT
I just came across this case recently. This is a long writeup, but I think this will be a fascinating case for those of you curious about disappearances/deaths with mysterious circumstances.
Marja Nijholt, 48, lived with her boyfriend in Enschede, Netherlands. People described her as “cheerful,” “sweet,” and “intelligent.” On occasion, Marja suffered from periods of confusion and anxiety attacks. Members of the Ecumenical City Pastorate church in Enschede, which she attended, reported she had been “struggling with numerous questions of life in recent months.”
Marja took her bike and her suitcase and rode a train from Enschede across the border to the nearby town of Gronau, Germany. She spent the nights of December 29 and December 30 at the Gasthof Fritz on Enschederstrasse. When questioned later, the hotel manager reported Marja was visibly anxious and told people she was being chased. On the morning of December 31, New Year’s Eve, the manager told Marja that a Dutch man had called the hotel and asked about her. Marja panicked and hurried out of the hotel. Police have not been able to identify the caller nor determine whether the call had anything to do with her death.
Around 11 am on December 31, Marja is caught on surveillance cameras at the Enschede train station back in the Netherlands. The train ride in between Gronau and Enschede is only 11 minutes, so apparently she fled the hotel in Gronau and returned to her own city. However, there is no evidence that she returned home; at the train station in Enschede she bought a one-way ticket to the town of Oss in the Netherlands.
Marja arrived in Oss around 2 pm, which makes sense as the train ride is not direct and would have taken approximately 2 h 10 min to 2 h 50 min depending on the route/transfers she chose. Her reasons for going to Oss are unclear. One article reported that she was looking for a “high-ranking Pentecostal official” there. Another article cited the pastor from City Pastorate in Enschede, who said she visited Oss for a New Year’s prayer service. Yet another article stated that the police said she was possibly meeting with an “internet date.”
In Oss, she visited several cafes, including Café ’t Libre in the Molenstraat around 4 pm. She approached several people asking about a place to spend the night at the cafes and on the street. She told others she was afraid she was being followed. She was also observed trying to call someone several times. At 8:30 pm she parked her bike outside of the Oostwal Cafeteria; she left at 9 pm. According to the police report, during this time period “she seems to panic more and more when she says she is on the run and really fearing for her life.”
There are several sightings of her until about 9 pm; according to witnesses, during this time she still has both her bicycle and her suitcase. Her whereabouts are unknown between 9 pm and 3 am. Around 3:10 in the morning she was caught on a security camera from the Tango gas station on the Singel in Oss.
After this, she appears in the nearby town of Berghem. The towns are close; the distance from the gas station where she was last seen in Oss to Osseweg in Berghem is less than 1 km (about a 10-12 minute walk). Several people report seeing her between 4:30 am and 6:15 am (as it was New Year’s, many people were out late.) She approached several people, and some believed she may have been drunk. At this point she had her suitcase, but no bicycle. She told people she was tired from walking and asked how to get to the train station. People told her the train station was back in Oss. The last time Marja is seen alive is at 6:55 am near a bicycle tunnel on Osseweg in the town of Berghem.
Marja was found dead in Oss on New Year’s Day around 10:30 am by a man walking his dog. Sources vary on where she was found: either in a garden, or in the driveway in front of a car company and dental clinic. The police reported she was stabbed with a sharp object, but the weapon was never found.
Her suitcase was recovered in a park not far from where her body was found. The suitcase was open and some of her things were next to the suitcase. Her bike, a Koga Miyata SilverAce women’s bike, was never recovered.
According to one news report, the police put 20 investigators on the case. (Murders are not common in the Netherlands.) Police reported that 54 people called in tips in the following months. In April 2013, given a lack of leads, the police filmed a video reenactment of her last hours and broadcast it on several television stations. However, the case went cold.
In May 2014, there seemed to be a breakthrough as a jailed man was identified as a suspect. However, police later reported the suspect was cleared.
Two people police have sought for questioning were an injured man spotted at the train station the morning she was killed, and a person seen walking in the area where Marja was at 4:30 am wearing an Angerfist mask (i.e., a Jason/Friday the 13th mask), which is creepy AF.
There is still a 15,000 Euro award for the “golden tip” that solves the case.
Various sources (I used Google Chrome to translate many pages in Dutch, so please correct me if I misinterpreted anything):
www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/151603/Dode-vrouw-gevonden-in-voortuin-Berghemseweg-Oss-politie-gaat-uit-van-misdrijf
www.bndestem.nl/brabant/marja-nijholt-48-werd-doodgestoken~a04125ef/
www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/175375/Brabander-in-cel-opgepakt-voor-moord-op-Marja-Nijholt-48-in-Oss
m.rtvoost.nl/nieuws/156278/Vrouw-Enschede-mogelijk-dood-na-internetdate
www.rtvoost.nl/nieuws/158056/Opnieuw-onderzoek-na-vondst-dode-vrouw-Oss
www.rtvoost.nl/nieuws/160032/Ruim-vijftig-tips-over-moord-vrouw-uit-Enschede
www.tubantia.nl/enschede/coldcasekalender-moet-leiden-tot-gouden-tip-over-moord-op-marja-nijholt-uit-enschede~a4e52521/
www.tubantia.nl/enschede/moord-enschedese-marja-nijholt-op-coldcasekalender-ze-had-waanideeen-maar-was-ook-wijs-br~a0c5abd6/
Reenactment (in Dutch, but has surveillance video of Marja):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxKDd6bOYSQ
Police report:
www.politie.nl/gezocht-en-vermist/dossiers/2019/09-vrouw-door-messteken-gedood/vrouw-door-messteken-gedood.html
Why did Marja leave Enschede and then Gronau? Was she taking a vacation, running away, or on the run from someone?
Was Marja delusional or was someone truly after her?
Do you think she committed suicide, was she murdered, or is there another explanation?
Marja Nijholt, 48, lived with her boyfriend in Enschede, Netherlands. People described her as “cheerful,” “sweet,” and “intelligent.” On occasion, Marja suffered from periods of confusion and anxiety attacks. Members of the Ecumenical City Pastorate church in Enschede, which she attended, reported she had been “struggling with numerous questions of life in recent months.”
Marja took her bike and her suitcase and rode a train from Enschede across the border to the nearby town of Gronau, Germany. She spent the nights of December 29 and December 30 at the Gasthof Fritz on Enschederstrasse. When questioned later, the hotel manager reported Marja was visibly anxious and told people she was being chased. On the morning of December 31, New Year’s Eve, the manager told Marja that a Dutch man had called the hotel and asked about her. Marja panicked and hurried out of the hotel. Police have not been able to identify the caller nor determine whether the call had anything to do with her death.
Around 11 am on December 31, Marja is caught on surveillance cameras at the Enschede train station back in the Netherlands. The train ride in between Gronau and Enschede is only 11 minutes, so apparently she fled the hotel in Gronau and returned to her own city. However, there is no evidence that she returned home; at the train station in Enschede she bought a one-way ticket to the town of Oss in the Netherlands.
Marja arrived in Oss around 2 pm, which makes sense as the train ride is not direct and would have taken approximately 2 h 10 min to 2 h 50 min depending on the route/transfers she chose. Her reasons for going to Oss are unclear. One article reported that she was looking for a “high-ranking Pentecostal official” there. Another article cited the pastor from City Pastorate in Enschede, who said she visited Oss for a New Year’s prayer service. Yet another article stated that the police said she was possibly meeting with an “internet date.”
In Oss, she visited several cafes, including Café ’t Libre in the Molenstraat around 4 pm. She approached several people asking about a place to spend the night at the cafes and on the street. She told others she was afraid she was being followed. She was also observed trying to call someone several times. At 8:30 pm she parked her bike outside of the Oostwal Cafeteria; she left at 9 pm. According to the police report, during this time period “she seems to panic more and more when she says she is on the run and really fearing for her life.”
There are several sightings of her until about 9 pm; according to witnesses, during this time she still has both her bicycle and her suitcase. Her whereabouts are unknown between 9 pm and 3 am. Around 3:10 in the morning she was caught on a security camera from the Tango gas station on the Singel in Oss.
After this, she appears in the nearby town of Berghem. The towns are close; the distance from the gas station where she was last seen in Oss to Osseweg in Berghem is less than 1 km (about a 10-12 minute walk). Several people report seeing her between 4:30 am and 6:15 am (as it was New Year’s, many people were out late.) She approached several people, and some believed she may have been drunk. At this point she had her suitcase, but no bicycle. She told people she was tired from walking and asked how to get to the train station. People told her the train station was back in Oss. The last time Marja is seen alive is at 6:55 am near a bicycle tunnel on Osseweg in the town of Berghem.
Marja was found dead in Oss on New Year’s Day around 10:30 am by a man walking his dog. Sources vary on where she was found: either in a garden, or in the driveway in front of a car company and dental clinic. The police reported she was stabbed with a sharp object, but the weapon was never found.
Her suitcase was recovered in a park not far from where her body was found. The suitcase was open and some of her things were next to the suitcase. Her bike, a Koga Miyata SilverAce women’s bike, was never recovered.
According to one news report, the police put 20 investigators on the case. (Murders are not common in the Netherlands.) Police reported that 54 people called in tips in the following months. In April 2013, given a lack of leads, the police filmed a video reenactment of her last hours and broadcast it on several television stations. However, the case went cold.
In May 2014, there seemed to be a breakthrough as a jailed man was identified as a suspect. However, police later reported the suspect was cleared.
Two people police have sought for questioning were an injured man spotted at the train station the morning she was killed, and a person seen walking in the area where Marja was at 4:30 am wearing an Angerfist mask (i.e., a Jason/Friday the 13th mask), which is creepy AF.
There is still a 15,000 Euro award for the “golden tip” that solves the case.
Various sources (I used Google Chrome to translate many pages in Dutch, so please correct me if I misinterpreted anything):
www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/151603/Dode-vrouw-gevonden-in-voortuin-Berghemseweg-Oss-politie-gaat-uit-van-misdrijf
www.bndestem.nl/brabant/marja-nijholt-48-werd-doodgestoken~a04125ef/
www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/175375/Brabander-in-cel-opgepakt-voor-moord-op-Marja-Nijholt-48-in-Oss
m.rtvoost.nl/nieuws/156278/Vrouw-Enschede-mogelijk-dood-na-internetdate
www.rtvoost.nl/nieuws/158056/Opnieuw-onderzoek-na-vondst-dode-vrouw-Oss
www.rtvoost.nl/nieuws/160032/Ruim-vijftig-tips-over-moord-vrouw-uit-Enschede
www.tubantia.nl/enschede/coldcasekalender-moet-leiden-tot-gouden-tip-over-moord-op-marja-nijholt-uit-enschede~a4e52521/
www.tubantia.nl/enschede/moord-enschedese-marja-nijholt-op-coldcasekalender-ze-had-waanideeen-maar-was-ook-wijs-br~a0c5abd6/
Reenactment (in Dutch, but has surveillance video of Marja):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxKDd6bOYSQ
Police report:
www.politie.nl/gezocht-en-vermist/dossiers/2019/09-vrouw-door-messteken-gedood/vrouw-door-messteken-gedood.html
Why did Marja leave Enschede and then Gronau? Was she taking a vacation, running away, or on the run from someone?
Was Marja delusional or was someone truly after her?
Do you think she committed suicide, was she murdered, or is there another explanation?