'I ****** him': Woman, 96, confesses - after 65 years - to ****** of suspected **** collaborator
# Later emerged victim had sheltered Jews and allowed Catholics to hold secret meetings in his home
# Killer meets grandchildren of victim to explain why she did it
A ****** mystery which puzzled Dutch police for more than 65 years has been solved - with the astonishing confession of a 96-year-old woman.
Construction firm boss Felix Gulje was gunned down on his own doorstep ten months after the end of World War II in March 1946.
His death became a high profile case because he was being considered for a high political post but was also thought to have collaborated with the Nazis.
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Confession: Atie Ridder-Visser (left) has admitted gunning down Feliz Gulje (right) on his doorstep in 1946, ten months after the end of the war
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German soldiers on the march in Holland. The country was occupied from 1940 to 1945
Despite a large-scale investigation, which threw up several suspects, his assassin managed to remain at large, becoming a major point of contention among political parties.
That was until yesterday - six-and-a-half decades after the crime - with the startling revelation from frail nonagenarian Atie Ridder-Visser that she was the one who pulled the trigger.
The mayor of Leiden, Henri Lenferink, told reporters that a woman had confessed to the *******, saying it happened in the mistaken belief that Gulje had collaborated with the Nazis.
Leiden is located 30 miles to the south west of Amsterdam, where the ****** of Anne Frank hid from the occupying **** soldiers for two years between 1942 and 1944. After being discovered they were sent to concentration camps and Anne died of typhus in March, 1945.
Lenferink said he received a letter from the woman, whom he identified as Mrs Ridder-Visser, in January.
Two subsequent interviews with her and a review of the historical archives persuaded him that her story was true.
She told him that on the bitterly cold sleeting night of March 1, 1946, the then Atie Visser rang Gulje's doorbell, and told his wife that she had a letter to give to her husband.
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Confession: The mayor of Dutch town Leiden (pictured) said a woman has admitted to being behind the ******
When he came to the door she blasted him in the chest. He died in the ambulance.
Visser had been a member of the resistance during the 1940 to 1945 **** occupation.
Rumours had been circulating that Gulje was working with the occupation authorities, and he had been targeted in the underground press.
His company did regular business with the Germans, and several employees belonged to a pro-**** organization. He was arrested after the war, but acquitted.
After his death it emerged that Gulje had sheltered some Jews and had given money to help hide others with other families.
A ****** Catholic association also held secret meetings in his home, said Lenferink.
Ridder-Visser moved to Indonesia after the war, where she met and married Herman Ridder.
Childless, they moved back to the Netherlands several years later, also spending a few years in Spain.
Lenferink said police never suspected the woman in the *******.
After disclosing her role, Ridder-Visser met two grandchildren of her victim last month to explain what happened and why she did it, the mayor added.
He did not disclose details of that conversation.
He also said that Ridder-Visser will not be prosecuted.
Although the 18-year statute of limitations was lifted for serious crimes in 2006, prosecutors ruled that the change in law would not apply in this case.
'Even now, after 65 years, the ****** should be strongly condemned,' Lenferink said. 'It is a case of vigilantism, and is unacceptable.'
But he appealed to reporters to leave her alone.
He added: 'Mrs. Ridder-Visser is a very old, very frail woman who hears poorly, is disabled and needs help.'
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