Dutch police hope to use holograms to solve Betty Szabo murder

Betty Szabó was 19 years old when she was murdered in 2009 in De Wallen, the notorious red-light district of Amsterdam, the Dutch capital. Despite a swift police response and an extensive forensic investigation, the culprit was never identified. Today, 15 years later, the cold case is back on trial. Police hope to use a new method to obtain information that can help solve the case:

Betty (actually Bernadette) Szabo grew up in humble circumstances in Hungary. At 18, she traveled to Amsterdam to become a sex worker, working in the notorious “windows” there. Soon after, she became pregnant there. She continued working until she became pregnant and eventually gave birth to a son. Soon after, he was placed in a foster home – also because Betty started working again just eight days after birth.

About three months later, on February 19, 2009, she was murdered. After an unusual silence, two colleagues went to check on her room and found her lying in a pool of blood. She was stabbed dozens of times. Police secured the crime scene and traces, evaluated surveillance cameras and interviewed witnesses. However, the investigation stalled and the case became unsolved.

The police are convinced: there must be clues

Today, 15 years after the incident, the Amsterdam police's “cold case team” is reopening the case. They make a last-ditch effort to find the perpetrators.

After all, Szabo was murdered in one of the busiest areas of Amsterdam, and indeed of the Netherlands. The cold case team believes someone knows more about the case, but has not yet shared this information. It's almost impossible that anyone saw or heard anything unusual at the time. Or maybe someone has heard someone talking about it now – it doesn't even have to be just in Amsterdam, as visitors to the Red Light District come from all over the world. It is hoped that witnesses who were previously fearful or silent for other reasons will now have the courage to come forward. As an incentive, the reward was increased to 30,000 euros.

Holograms aim to mobilize witnesses

A new campaign around Betty's murder is now aiming to raise memories of the case and mobilize witnesses. The event starts on November 9th and is expected to last for one week. For example, a house on the corner of Korte Stormsteeg and Oudezijds Achterburgwal (the street where Saab was murdered) will be dedicated to the murder. There were large stickers on the windows with information about the case, and a TV screen showed the crime scene, footage from Betty's last film and a documentary. And – most likely to grab people's attention: a life-size hologram that mimics Betty's appearance.

The computer visualization shows Betty sitting on a stool by the window, trying to contact passers-by and ask them for help. The holographic image of the victim was created using 3D visualization technology that has never been used by Amsterdam police before.

Of course, they also discussed the matter with relatives of the deceased and were determined to achieve their goal of achieving some form of justice for Betty with dignity. Van Gogh said that in such cases, people always try to give the victim a face so that the informant knows who they are doing it for. In addition to all the activities inside the house, posters will be put up and flyers distributed in the area.

Dutch police have released more information about the case here and here . Among other things, it receives relevant information via email: coldcase.amsterdam@politie.nl.

(Left)

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