Couple found dead in a house on Ceintuurbaan

Pieter Hoovers, a 54-year-old man from Amsterdam, and his Thai wife Tae, whose full name was Naphaporn Kaewpanya and who was 32 years old, were found dead at around 13:30 on Monday, 17 July 2017, inside an apartment on Ceintuurbaan in De Pijp in Amsterdam. The couple normally lived in Thailand but had returned to Amsterdam for a stay in the Netherlands. Pieter Hoovers was known in Amsterdam’s music and martial arts scene and had moved to Thailand years earlier, where he ran a hospitality business in Pattaya and met Tae. When friends and acquaintances were no longer able to contact the couple, they raised the alarm. Police entered the apartment and found Pieter and Tae dead inside. Both had been killed by gunfire. The investigation showed that they had probably already been murdered on Saturday evening, 15 July 2017, two days before their bodies were discovered. Camera footage showed Pieter and Tae arriving at the apartment by scooter that Saturday evening. Those were the last known images of them alive. Later that evening, an unknown man was seen several times near their home. According to the investigation, he had been dropped off in the area of Ceintuurbaan, including by a grey Volkswagen Golf that was believed to have had false licence plates. Investigators later also looked at a Mercedes Sprinter van that may have been used as a getaway vehicle. Because there were no signs of forced entry at the door, police considered it possible that Pieter and Tae had let the killer into the apartment themselves. Inside, they were shot dead. The killings were investigated as a double liquidation. The motive has never become fully clear. In the years after the murder, investigators looked at possible links to the criminal underworld in both Thailand and the Netherlands, because Pieter Hoovers had lived in Pattaya and knew people from different circles there. The case remained unsolved for years. Police released images of the suspected perpetrator and possible vehicles used in the killing in 2018 and again in 2024. In 2026, the case returned to the news after a 52-year-old British man, Tommy Parker, was killed in a violent incident in Heerhugowaard. Police linked him to the double murder of Pieter Hoovers and Tae Kaewpanya and regarded him as the suspected gunman who had been wanted for years. Because he died himself, there was no criminal trial against him. As far as is known, no one has ever been convicted for the murders of Pieter Hoovers and Tae. Legally, the case therefore remains unsolved, even though the investigation later clearly pointed towards the British suspect.