Hans Gruyters

Hans Gruyters
Born (1925-04-28)April 28, 1925
Boekel, Netherlands
Died October 24, 1980(1980-10-24) (aged 55)
Cause of death Heart attack
Other names The Black Rider
Criminal charge Murder, bank robbery, burglary
Criminal penalty 15 years
Details
Killed 2

Hans Gruyters (28 April 1925, Boekel – 24 October 1980) was a Dutch criminal.[1] In the 1950s, he was a car salesman in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant. His nickname was The Black Rider, because he once appeared completely dressed in black at a party.

On 15 November 1954, he fatally shot Jan van Dieten, a post office executive in Ravenstein. Gruyters was 29 at the time, and had already been convicted six times for smaller offences. On 16 November, he robbed a bank, and on December 31, he broke into a vicar's house in Volkel (a small village in Noord-Brabant), after which he ran a man over on a bike, killing the man in the process. By then, the police were on his trail, but this did not prevent him from trying to rob a bank in Oss some days later. He was eventually arrested on January 5, 1955, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison in 1956.

He escaped in 1957 from the prison in Scheveningen, which was widely covered in the press, but was soon found and returned to his cell. He was released in 1966.

After being released from prison he briefly embarked on a singing career without much success.

Gruyters married twice, his first wife divorcing him when he was in prison. After marrying a second time, he seems to have been a reformed character, building up a cleaning business that at one point employed more than 30 people. The second marriage produced one daughter.

Gruyters died in 1980 after suffering a heart attack while riding his horse. He is buried in Rumpt.

  • Erik Vink (a Dutch journalist and playwright) wrote a play De Zwarte Ruiter (The Black Rider) about Gruyters, which has been performed by a number of small amateur theater groups. This play should not be confused with De Zwarte Ruiter (The Black Rider) a film by Wim Verstappen.
  • The Ottawa-based band, Wise, Young and King made Hans Gruyters the subject of their song, The Black Rider.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Frans Ceelen, De Zwarte Ruiter, an article on the Brabant Historic Information Center (BHIC) website, containing a substantial document about Gruyters (in Dutch).
  2. ↑ The Wise, Young and King website

Fyrther reading

  • J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, The New Murderer's Who's Who, 1996, Harrap Books, London
  • Hans van Straaten, Moordenaarswerk, 1990, Amsterdam (in Dutch)


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