John van den Heuvel’s wife lost her job at a school due to Van den Heuvel’s work as a crime reporter. She said it on Saturday on the TV show Stars on the canvas. The school did not agree with the heightened security measures that would be applied to it and the school following the death of Peter R. de Vries.
“My wife was a kindergarten teacher,” Van den Heuvel told presenter Özcan Akyol. “And after Peter’s murder, the already strict security measures were of course also tightened. One of the consequences was that my family was further protected and that she too would receive a certain form of security at her job as a precaution “.
The reporter said he and his wife understood this. “But the school she worked at didn’t find that understandable, especially the management and the school board. She was actually called to the school board while we were still in a very sad time and sent home. Like: sorry but because of your job of her husband and the consequences of the security measures at the school, we don’t want you to come here anymore. In the end, her employment contract was terminated”.
Van den Heuvel says he and his wife tried everything to avoid losing his job and that the mayor was also involved. That didn’t fix anything, he said. “I know how much love she has for her profession. Kids are everything to her.”
The reporter later said that De Vries’ death was a “traumatic event”. “It’s still an open wound, I notice. If something happens to a direct colleague that you’re actually afraid of yourself. Well, you’re afraid of it, count it.” Another factor was that Van den Heuvel was not “on good terms” with De Vries shortly before his death. After De Vries’ death, Van den Heuvel realized “that you never have the opportunity to talk about it again”.
