Help with a cold case

Amsterdam police use hologram to find murderer

Bernadett "Betty" Szabó was murdered in Amsterdam's red light district on February 19, 2009.(Bild: politie.nl)

The Amsterdam police use an unusual means to solve a 15-year-old murder case: a hologram. In a window in the red light district, a deceptively real-looking young woman asks passers-by for help. 

Betty Szabó, originally from Hungary, came to Amsterdam at the age of 18 and worked as a sex worker in the Dutch capital's world-famous "Wallen" - the red light district where women openly offer their services in red-lit windows. Betty became pregnant, but continued to work. She returned shortly after giving birth. Three months later, Betty was murdered.

On February 19, 2009, two of Betty's colleagues were worried. They hadn't seen her or heard any music coming from her room. Around one o'clock they went to check and found Betty in a large pool of blood - she had been murdered with dozens of stab wounds. A major police investigation was unsuccessful. There is still no trace of the perpetrator.

"A gripping case"
It is a very gripping case, says Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk from the cold case team of the Amsterdam police. "A young girl, only 19 years old, was killed in a terrible way." Her son had never met her, he was placed in foster care. 

The police cold-case team is therefore now making one last attempt. Stickers on the windows of the building where the murder was committed provide information about Betty and the case. Above all, however, the life-size hologram attracts attention. A computer simulation was created using 3D technology. A young woman with a large tattoo on the bar stool in the window. However, out of consideration for the relatives, she hardly resembles Betty.

The police are convinced that someone must know more. "Betty was murdered in one of the liveliest places in Amsterdam. People must have seen or heard something." The reward for the decisive tip is 30,000 euros.