A hefty haul
Bosters' body lies face down, hands and feet tied, the back of his head badly battered with a blunt object. The walls of the iconic Theehuis (teahouse) in the Vondelpark are smeared with blood. Next to him lies an unfinished roll-up cigarette, a silent witness to his final moments. The police establish that roughly 30,000 guilders have been taken. Converted at the rates of the time, that is around 13,000 euros, a hefty haul. From that moment on, the murder is labelled a robbery-murder.
New energy
The shock among family and friends is, of course, enormous. Piet, a relatively small man, was known as a good-hearted person without enemies or criminal connections. He lived for his grandchildren Cynthia, Elke and Danny. The teahouse was, quite literally, his second home. He found his greatest happiness in the children of his stepdaughter Wanda and in his wife Lia, with whom he spent 38 years. After Lia's death at the end of 1996, Piet decided to give his life a fresh start and poured his new energy into the teahouse. He had grand plans to turn the place into a real hotspot again. He wanted to make that happen in the summer of 1997, and if it didn't work out he would sell up. It never happened, because before the summer had even begun he lay dead in his café.
No signs of forced entry
The police suspect that Piet was killed by someone he knew. No signs of a break-in were found, which would suggest that the perpetrator had access to a key to the building or that Piet himself opened the door to his killer. The family, for that matter, was certain that Piet would never open the door to a stranger. The police do suspect, however, that the perpetrator knew about the money Piet kept in a safe in the café. On the evening of his death Piet had, as he did every Friday evening, had a few beers in the pub of his friend Louis van Hamelsveld before heading home. Perhaps his killer was lying in wait for him in the park when, after a few beers, a taxi dropped him off at the Vondelpark.
A perpetrator close to home?
Initially, the police keep open the possibility that the murder is linked to the inheritance. In his will, Piet had named his grandchildren as his sole heirs. His stepdaughter Wanda and her boyfriend Wilson are even arrested on suspicion of involvement. Prosecutors suspected that Wilson had tipped off Russian criminals about the valuables in the teahouse. Although there was not enough evidence to hold Wanda and Wilson any longer, the theory that Piet was betrayed by someone close to him persisted.
Deep scars
Despite the extensive police investigation, in which every lead was carefully examined and countless witnesses were interviewed, the murder of Piet Bosters remains unsolved to this day. This is a source of great frustration for the relatives, but also for the police. For them, the murder will always remain an unhealed trauma. As his friend Louis van Hamelsveld told NH Nieuws in 2015: "Fridays have never been the same since. Friday afternoon was Piet's afternoon, and you still feel that. Some customers no longer come to my pub, because Piet's absence is too painful."
