Former US sheriff’s deputy to stand trial for murder in the Netherlands

Photo: Despositphotos.com
Photo: Despositphotos.com

A former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy was extradited to the Netherlands last week to stand trial for the murder of a German man two years ago.

William Lyle Johnson is charged with allegedly killing Thomas Schwarz, whose body was found in a pool of blood in his Limburg home in November 2019.

Schwartz, a German national who lived in the Netherlands, had shares in an ‘apple company’ located in Macedonia, the extradition document states.

He allegedly owed money to a Swiss businessman called Lukas Fecker, also in custody, and was subsequently threatened with his life.

After several attempts to retrieve the money, Johnson and two accomplices went to Schwarz’s home and allegedly stabbed him to death, discarding their bloodstained clothing in a nearby wood.

Johnson contested his extradition, claiming he had been ‘standing by the car’ that had taken them to Schwarz’s home in Bergen and was not involved in the attack on Schwarz.

However, the judge ruled that the other charges against him justified his extradition.

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