A man has been jailed for 18 years for murdering his wife after he confessed to the killing during a controversial undercover operation.

Wim S told detectives who had befriended him that he had killed his wife Heidy Geodhart by hitting her on the head with a stone and then strangling her.

The court ruled on Monday that S’s confession is trustworthy and that he is guilty of the murder. Legal experts had criticised the size of the undercover operation mounted against S which cost thousands of euros and involved taking him to Marbella.

In 2011, S spent three months in custody accused of strangling Goedhart in the garden of her home in Kaatsheuvel but was released because of a lack of evidence.

Car crash

Police then mounted a year-long campaign involving 16 officers in an effort to win a confession. The tactics included crashing into S’s car so the undercover officer could strike up a friendship with him.

S, who was known to have financial worries, was given work by a police-friendly security company. He eventually confessed to the murder while working for the firm in Marbella after being threatened with losing his job.

Psychologist and evidence expert Peter van Koppen told the Brabants Dagblad last year the undercover operation had produced nothing of value and involved ‘all the wrong methods of interrogation’.

‘It is a scandal that S was put under so much pressure he could do nothing other than confess,’ he said.