Can a hologram in Amsterdam’s red light district solve the mystery of the 2009 murder of a teenager? Dutch police are hoping to stir up memories to get answers

AMSTERDAM, Nov 17 — By a canal in Amsterdam’s red-light district, one of the “women in the window” is actually a hologram that Dutch police hope will help solve the gruesome 2009 murder of a sex worker.

Looking through the frame at passers-by, a life-size likeness of Bernadette Szabo – wearing tight shorts and a leopard-print bra, a dragon tattoo covering most of her torso – bangs on the window and her breath fogs the glass.

The creepy word “HELP” appears on the screen.

“Fifteen years ago, Betty was murdered in a horrific way and the investigation has never been closed,” Amsterdam police spokesman Olav Brink told AFP.

Aged just 19, Hungarian-born Betty was stabbed multiple times in her brothel room in the centuries-old red-light district known as De Wallen, just months after giving birth to a boy.

Despite a large-scale police investigation, the case was closed.

However, during the inspection, police found “promising evidence” and decided to reopen the investigation, Brink said.

They hope the 3D image of Betty will jog the memories of people who may have information about her murder.

“shocking”

“There are still people out there who know what happened to Betty,” Brink said, hoping that 15 years from now, “people will feel more free to share information with the police.”

The initiative also aims to raise awareness of the violence faced by sex workers.

Some 78 percent of prostitutes in the Netherlands have been sexually assaulted, and 60 percent report physical assault, according to a 2018 report by Dutch charities and sex worker rights groups.

Concerns about violence have also increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the loss of income has forced some prostitutes to continue working illegally and reduced their ability to report crimes to the police.

In the week after the hologram and accompanying information about Betty was presented, police saw “a lot of people talking about it.”

“We think it’s special that Betty is able to bring attention to her cause in this way,” Brink said.

On the streets of De Wallen, lined with women looking out from red-lit windows, groups of locals and visitors stop and start talking about the unusual exhibit called “Who Was Betty?”.

Theo, 80, who lives outside Amsterdam, said he read about the project in the newspapers and “came to see it on purpose” when he was in the city.

Soyun Jun, 34, lives near the red-light district, “so it was more shocking to me that there are neighbors going through such a terrible incident.”

For June, who works for a Christian charity, the hologram made the killing “real”.

“It wasn’t just information,” Jun explained. “People felt the helplessness that Betty would have felt.”

Police have already “received several reports in connection with the campaign,” Brink confirmed to AFP.

However, they are still waiting for a “golden clue” that will lead them to the killer, which comes with a reward of 30,000 euros ($31,600).

Relocation plans

According to Brink, the hologram is “a special way to draw attention to this case” — specifically by placing it in De Wallen, which is “one of the liveliest places in Amsterdam and probably in the whole of the Netherlands.”

However, this may not last long, as Amsterdam’s sex workers may soon lose the centrality and visibility of their windows.

The local government plans to relocate the red light district to a purpose-built center south of the city in the hope of reducing petty crime and the number of tourists in De Wallen.

The move is opposed by tens of thousands of local residents and sex workers, who are instead demanding better crowd control and surveillance in the existing red-light zone.

Miranda K, 57, who lives near Amsterdam and declined to give her full name, said the move was a “shame” because she felt “safe” in De Wallen.

She said the center outside the city would be in a “dark” area, while De Wallen “has tourists, people, locals and everything. So I think it’s safer.”

“For me, it’s not just about finding Betty or who Betty was,” she said, “but finding … these other women on the streets.” — AFP