The Amsterdam District Court is reopening the inquiry into the murder of crime journalist Peter R. de Vries after receiving new information from the public prosecution service.

Prosecutors have called for a life sentence for two men accused of carrying out the murder, Delano G and Kamil E. Last week a 27-year-old man with Polish nationality was also arrested in connection with the killing.

In a statement, the court said it was ‘forced to reopen the investigation’ after new information came to light about the brazen killing. The court will hold a hearing on Monday to allow the defence and prosecution to respond to the new information.

Lawyers for 22-year-old Delano G, who prosecutors say was the gunman, argued during two days of hearings in June that he was unaware of who De Vries was and should be given leniency because of his age. Kamil E’s lawyers claim he was merely hired as a driver and had no idea a murder would take place.

Two men thought to have made and circulated films after the killing were arrested in Spain and Curaçao last week. Police believe that films were intentionally made and spread via social media to increase the social impact of the murder.

De Vries was shot five times while walking to his car on the Leidsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam in July 2021, following an appearance on TV gossip show RTL Boulevard.

Investigators believe his murder was connected to an ongoing gangland trial. At the time of his death, de Vries was acting as an official confidant to Nabil B., a key crown witness in the Marengo case, in which suspected gang leader Ridouan Taghi and 16 other men stand accused of commissioning assassinations in the Dutch underworld between 2015 and 2017.

The court is scheduled to give its verdict in the case on Friday, after the trial hearings concluded at the end of June. It is unclear if the judgment will go ahead as planned.