Polish man Jan Majdanski stabbed to death in Oosterpark

Jan Majdanski, a 33-year-old man from Poland who lived in Rotterdam, was stabbed to death on Friday evening, 3 March 2017, in Oosterpark in Amsterdam-Oost. At around 21:00, he was found heavily bleeding in the park, on or near a spot known as a meeting place for gay men. When emergency services arrived, he was no longer responsive. Attempts were made to resuscitate him, but Jan Majdanski died later that evening or night from his injuries. In the first days after his death, his identity had not yet been established. Police therefore released images of him, including footage from a purchase he had made earlier that day in central Amsterdam. After people recognised him, it became known that the victim was Jan Majdanski, a Polish man who lived in Rotterdam but often came to Amsterdam, including to visit friends. Investigators looked at several possible motives. Because Jan Majdanski was gay and was stabbed near a male meeting place, police investigated whether his sexuality or a meeting in the park had played a role. At the same time, they also considered the possibility of a robbery that had escalated. A few weeks later, a 17-year-old boy from Amsterdam came into view. He was arrested in April 2017 and was also suspected of earlier violent robberies in and around Oosterpark. According to the Public Prosecution Service, he targeted vulnerable victims, including men who visited the meeting place, because they might be less likely to report the crime. The suspect allegedly lured victims into the bushes by engaging in a sexual game with them and then robbed them while threatening them with a knife. In Jan Majdanski’s case, that violence became fatal. In an intercepted phone call with his mother, the boy later admitted that he had killed Jan Majdanski. The court dealt with him under juvenile criminal law because he was a minor at the time of the offences. On 22 February 2018, he was convicted of the fatal stabbing in Oosterpark and of two earlier violent robberies. He was sentenced to two years of juvenile detention and juvenile TBS, the heaviest sentence possible under juvenile criminal law.