A teenage Dutch couple stands accused of hiring an amateur hitman to stab a girl to death for posting derogatory Facebook comments. The Netherlands case has been dubbed the “Facebook murder trial.”
The stabber, known only as “Jinhua K”—his last name is private, since he’s a minor—admitted that he stabbed Joyce “Winsie” Hau to death in her home and seriously injured Hau’s father in the attack.
Jinhua said in court Monday that the couple Polly W, 16, and Wesley C, 17, offered him €20 ($25 U.S.) to murder Hau. When he expressed reservations, he said, the couple threatened to kill him instead.
One Dutch newspaper reported that Polly and Hau were once best friends, but when Polly and Wesley started dating, Hau posted on Facebook and several other sites that Polly got around with boys. In response, prosecutors said, Polly and several of her friends decided to “teach [Hau] a lesson.”
Hau’s father, Chun nam, told a Dutch crime program that Jinhua rang his doorbell and asked to see Hau. As soon as he left the two alone, Chun nam said, Jinhua stabbed Hau. Chun nam tried to intervene and was badly slashed. Hau died in a hospital five days later.
As a juvenile, Jinhua only faces a year in jail. A court is expected to decide Tuesday if Polly and Wesley will be tried as adults.
Screengrab of Chun nam via eenvandaag.nl