The Irish Times - Monday, October 15, 2012

PETER CLUSKEY in The Hague

DUTCH police have carried out the biggest DNA sweep in the history of the Netherlands, taking samples from more than 6,500 men in 12 separate villages, in a renewed attempt to solve the countrys most infamous murder that of 16-year-old schoolgirl Marianne Vaatstra, in 1999.

The DNA sampling was completed on Thursday, and police said at the weekend that they had successfully collected samples from 89 per cent of the 7,300 men still living within a five-mile radius of the meadow where Vaatstras body was dumped 14 years ago.

The schoolgirls age and the particularly gruesome nature of the murder she was raped, strangled and had her throat cut caused revulsion in the Netherlands. As a result there have been repeated attempts over the years to find her killer, most recently in 2007 using 3D technology.

The department of justice has refused on a number of occasions to give permission for such a wide sweep, but in June it relented on the grounds that DNA testing has become much more sophisticated and that police say they may have some of the killers DNA, which was discovered at the scene.

Hopes of a breakthrough now centre on a Playboy cigarette lighter found in the grass near the victims body in the field in Veenklooster, in the northern province of Friesland.

DNA found on the lighter, which was bought in a local shop, matches DNA found on the dead girls body and police hope it may still lead them to someone closely related to the killer.

One of the most controversial aspects of this murder case in 1999 was that, because the body was found near a centre for asylum seekers, the focus of the investigation and of local anger rapidly became the refugees.

An Iraqi who had recently left the camp was detained in the UK, while an Afghan was detained in Turkey. Both voluntarily gave DNA samples and were ruled out.

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New DNA hunt for killer of Dutch schoolgirl