Theodorus van Berkel

Theodorus "Ted" van Berkel (6 February 1906 – 21 March 1982), anglicized as Theodore van Berkel, was a Dutch serial killer, serial rapist and child molester who committed a series of crimes in the United States and the Netherlands. After being deported from the US for several rapes committed in the 1930s, Van Berkel committed raped and murdered two young girls in 1941, but was convicted of only one and imprisoned for 15 years.

After his release, Van Berkel killed a young boy in 1960, after which he was sentenced to another 15-year prison term. During his incarceration, he confessed to his previous murder after the statute of limitations had passed, and was reportedly considered a suspect in a similar double murder from 1940.

After his security period expired, Van Berkel was released in 1981, dying a few months later at a homeless shelter.

Early life Theodorus van Berkel was born in Uden on 6 February 1906, as one of six children born to merchant Marinus van Berkel and his wife Helena "Leen" Henraat. The family grew up in the Kreppeneind slum, with Theodorus' dad rarely attending to them due to his nomadic lifestyle and frequent incarcerations for various violent crimes. Later rumors suggested that Marinus often beat his wife and children, with Theodorus in particular witnessing him engage in sexual acts and himself being abused at a young age by one of his dad's younger sex partners – however, none of this has been definitively verified. At some point, he changed his mind and returned, untied Stein and drove back within a few blocks of her home, threatening to kill her if she told anyone about the ordeal. Two days after the warrant was issued, Van Berkel was caught in Cudahy and extradited to Green Bay to stand trial on the rape charge. In the meantime, authorities from Milwaukee stated that they were investigating him for three rapes committed against young girls in their city the week prior to Van Berkel's capture. At the time, the father of one of the 9-year-old girls had organized a posse to hunt down the rapist and supposedly threatened to kill him if caught. On 30 July, Van Berkel used a small metal saw hidden in his shoe to saw through the cell's bars and escaped from prison, leading to a state-wide manhunt.

Just two days later, two farmers from Rockland reported to sheriffs that they had spotted what appeared to be Van Berkel hiding in some shrubbery behind the farm of a man named Francis Thomas. They claimed that the man was seen with a fruit basket containing some partially eaten food, some matches, and a water bottle, with another local woman confirming that she had seen that same man claiming that he was fishing for minnows in the nearby Devil River. Thomas then guided him to an oat field behind the farm, where Chadek commanded him to signal Van Berkel to come out of hiding. Although initially hesitant to do so, Thomas relented, prompting Van Berkel to pop his head out from his hiding place. Chadek then took out his gun and ordered him to surrender, but Van Berkel refused, attempting to run away. The pair separated shortly after escaping from the jail, but were reunited later that day on the west side of Green Bay and decided to stick together for some time before separating again.

After learning of the escape, a posse of more than 100 volunteers were organized in order to capture the fugitives, with Sheriff Nickolai using a helicopter to search from above. In the meantime, highway patrols were set up, with the volunteers being veterans from the United States Army who were equipped with rifles. The escape attracted the attention of many spectators who wanted to help search for the two men – among them were Van Berkel's own family members, who had traveled from St. Louis to attend Theodorus' trial.

These claims were rebutted by multiple witnesses brought forward by the prosecution, who indicated that Van Berkel was not at the places he indicated during his testimony. The only notable reaction from Van Berkel was that he appeared to momentarily lose composure as he was escorted away, but quickly came back to his senses.

Deportation and move to Tilburg For the next nine years, Van Berkel served his sentence at the Waupun State Prison without any notable incidents. In 1937, he filed an application for a commutation of his sentence, which was denied by Governor Robert M. La Follette Jr..

On 2 June 1939, Van Berkel was granted a pardon and released from prison. Three days later, he was handed over to the INS in Chicago, as his parents never applied him for naturalization and he was never granted American citizenship. After more than a week of searching by detectives and volunteers alike, they were unable to find any trace of Pagie, who was last seen by a teenage girl walking along the Heuvel market, carrying ten-cent coins that she had obtained through unknown means. Locals speculated early on that she might have been abducted by someone, but these were dismissed as baseless rumors. Reportedly, Van Berkel offered to aid in the search, but his offer was denied.

Two weeks later, on 29 August, 13-year-old Annie Remken, who was staying at the Balsvoort farm near Oisterwijk with her family, who were on holiday from Rotterdam. On that day, the family was staying at another farm and were planning to return to Balsvoort to prepare their belongings for their upcoming trip back to Rotterdam, with Annie deciding to ride her bicycle ahead of them. Approximately half an hour later, her parents arrived at Balsvoort with her younger brother, but she was nowhere to be seen. Unbeknownst to the public at the time, he had ordered his men to watch Van Berkel's movements for the past couple of weeks, as his interactions with children and strange behavior before and after the disappearance made him a possible suspect in that case. In the meantime, rumors started circulating when the locals learned of his criminal record in the USA, with some accusing him of killing children prior to his arrival in Tilburg.

Discovery of Pagie's body On 15 October, the public prosecutor in Breda offered a reward of 5,000 guilders for any information that could lead to the discovery of Ria Pagie's body.

On 25 October, a group of several police detectives with police dogs and five civilians conducted a search in the Udenhout Dunes in the hope of locating something that could led them to the discovery of Pagie. Among them was a game warden named J. A. Hommer, who noticed a small blue child's shoe sticking out of some bushes on a private estate near Berkel-Enschot. Upon closer inspection, he found the decomposing body of a young girl. While the other searchers cordoned off the area, Hommer called the police and led them to the crime scene – among them were Jan Stevens, who, along with his colleagues, identified the body as that of Pagie due to her acorn-shaped earrings, floral dress, and the blue shoes. On 1 November, Pagie's body was buried at the Tilburg cemetery, with many locals attending the burial ceremony.

On 4 April 1942, a small monument was erected in Pagie's name at the place where she was found. The funds for the monument were gathered following an organized effort by readers of the Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant.

Prosecution for Remken murder Due to the fact that the prosecutors lacked enough evidence to charge in Pagie's murder, Van Berkel was instead charged with the rape and murder of Remken. Due to the crime's nature, it was decided that the trial would be conducted in camera, much to the apparent relief of the defendant, who appeared visibly nervous throughout the ordeal.

On 3 March 1943, Van Berkel was convicted on a manslaughter charge by the District Court of Breda, who then sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment. This ruling was immediately appealed by both his lawyers and the prosecution, who had requested a life sentence. At these proceedings, Van Berkel repeatedly claimed that his bicycle had been stolen and that he was not in the area when Remken had been killed, all the while attempting to rebuke the prosecutors' arguments. After hearing arguments from both sides, the trial was adjourned, with the Court of Appeal deciding to refer the case back to the examining magistrate for further investigation. Van Berkel filed an appeal against the sentence on the following day, but it was denied at some later point in time.

Incarceration and parole After the Supreme Court denied his final appeal on 13 July 1946, Van Berkel was ordered to serve the remainder of his sentence at the Leeuwarden Penal Prison.

Murder of Hansje Hermans Location of body and investigation On 11 September 1960, 11-year-old Hans "Hansje" Hermans decided to cycle from his home in Evertsoord to his uncle's hamlet in an isolated part of rural Sevenum to deliver him a small saw. When he failed to arrive at his destination, he was reported missing, and a large contingent of officers and soldiers began a search to locate the missing boy.

Three days later, a soldier spotted a freshly-dug grave in an asparagus field on the road between Sevenum and Helenaveen, after which he immediately started digging.

A day after the discovery, investigators located a small saw in the nearby village of Reusel, similar to one that was missing from Hermans' bicycle. As none of his other belongings – two small flags and a wallet containing 1.50 euros – could be located in the area, a search was called off, with some being skeptical if the item actually belonged to the murdered boy or not. On the following day, the authorities stated that the saw located did not belong to Hermans. On that same day, he was buried.

On 19 September, a 25-year-old farmer working the soil on his father's asparagus plantation noticed what appeared to be two small plastic red flags, identical to the ones missing from Hermans' bicycle. The farmer immediately notified the police, who went to the plantation and retrieved not only the flags, but also the saw, all three of which were buried only centimeters below the ground close to one another.

Rumors and suspects Following the discovery of Hermans' items, numerous theories and rumors began spreading about who the killer could be and what his motive was. This was prompted by the actions of a district commander of the police in Roermond, who had requested a list of all known mentally-disturbed sex offenders who were either under supervision in the area. In total, the media reported that at least 70 such men lived close in the province, with at least twenty of them labeled as capable of resuming their criminal activities.

Van Berkel's arrest On 10 October 1960, Van Berkel was detained for questioning in the Hermans case and transferred to a police outpost outside of Roermond. There, he denied any responsibility for the crime, but accidentally made several statements that showed he knew more than he claimed, such as saying that Hermans had been hit on the head with a blunt instrument prior to being strangled – a fact not released in the papers at the time. Additional pieces of evidence included the fact that he owned a red scooter similar to one reported being seen in the area after Hermans' murder, and that he had a coal shovel that could have been used to dig the shallow grave. By this time, newspapers had already uncovered his criminal past and noted similarities between Remken's murder and this case.

While he admitted responsibility for at least ten incidents of child molestation in Belfeld and the surrounding area, Van Berkel steadfastly maintained that he had nothing to do with Hermans' murder. He claimed on that day of the murder, he had gone with his scooter to Roermond and then to a fair in Baarlo, but this account was contradicted by at least four witnesses, all of whom placed him in the vicinity of Sevenum. Additional circumstantial evidence for his guilt came from the fact that when he was placed in a lineup with other random men, a sniffer dog – which had picked up the scent of the coal shovel that was likely used in the murder – pointed towards Van Berkel on three separate occasions. Following the indictment, Public Prosecutor C. W. van Uiterwaal stated at a press conference that he was fully convinced that Van Berkel was responsible, and that he permanently removed from society due to the danger he posed to others.

Confession On 19 October, Van Berkel contacted the investigators, stating that he wished to make a statement. During his conversation with them, he finally admitted to killing Hermans, providing a detailed account of how he had done it.

In his confession, Van Berkel stated that on the day of the murder, he had parked his red scooter in a small pine grove and decided to go on a walk through the woods. After walking for a little bit, he encountered Hermans by chance and called out to him. Once Hermans approached him, Van Berkel propositioned him to do some sexual acts, which the young boy rejected and prepared himself to flee. After this, Hansje's parents gave an interview in the press in which they said that a burden had been lifted from their shoulders, and that they had started suspecting that "The Lodger", as they called Van Berkel, was hiding something due to his strange behavior after their son's murder.

The case also prompted a concerned mother from Venlo to write a letter to Minister of Justice Albert Beerman stating that the government in faultering in its duty to protect children and should enact stricter measures concerning sex offenders. The petition received support from across the country, with people rallying to persuade others to gather enough signatures for it to be considered for a change in the laws. The mother, Mrs. Dommeck-van Geert, was eventually granted an audience with Beerman, who tried to alleviate her concerns and promised to read through all the letters that had been sent to his office.

Trial and sentence On 22 October, Van Berkel was transferred to a psychiatric clinic in Utrecht to undergo a forensic psychiatric evaluation prior to his trial. After he was found sane to stand trial, was scheduled to have his first court hearing in early June 1961. The beginning of his trial was then set for 3 October, with the trial being held in camera due to the sexual nature of the murder.

At the trial, prosecutor Van Uiterwaal demanded a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment on an aggravated manslaughter charge and the three counts of child molestation, after he agreed to drop the charge of premeditated murder due to the circumstances of the case. Throughout the proceedings, Van Berkel appeared distressed, occasionally cried and repeatedly expressed remorse for his crimes, stating that he had no intent of killing the boy. He later filed an appeal against the sentence on 31 October, but withdrew it on 19 1967. He was then transferred to the Leeuwarden penal prison to serve out his sentence.

Later life and death On 18 March 1963, Hansje Hermans' father and his horse were killed in a lightning strike following a brief but violent thunderstorm.

Starting from 2 August 1967, Van Berkel started receiving treatment at a psychiatric facility in Balkbrug. During his time there, he repeatedly confessed to killing all three children, including Pagie, but would just as quickly retract his confessions. This came after prosecutors decided that the original suspect, farmer Jan Berends, would not be prosecuted further due to a lack of evidence. Berends, who had emigrated to Canada at the time, later moved his family to Australia, where he remained until his death. Both murders remain cold cases.

As his security period was not extended beyond 29 May 1981, Van Berkel was released and placed at a homeless shelter in Nijmegen. In an interview provided to Brabants Dagblad, Van den Oord states that Van Berkel definitively confessed to killing Pagie back in 1975 to inspector Jan Blaauw, who detailed the crime in his own book. Van den Oord also expressed his hope that he several important files pertinent to the case had been lost during a bombing raid in 1945, and that official reports from the police in Tilburg were missing.