An inquest opened into the death of Paul Parker heard his cause of death was a gunshot wound following an “altercation involving weapons”
Dutch media named Liverpool man Paul Parker, who was killed in June this year, as the man suspected of two murders in Amsterdam
A Liverpool man living in the Netherlands was shot dead during an “altercation involving weapons”. Paul Anthony Parker, who is believed to have been a suspect in a double shooting in Amsterdam, died in the Dutch city of Heerhugowaard on June 1 this year.
Dutch media reported that 52-year-old Parker had entered a business which led to a fight involving guns and knives. Local media initially reported that Parker had been stabbed to death, but at an inquest opening on Thursday morning his cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound.
Anita Bhardwaj, senior coroner for Sefton, St. Helens and Knowsley, confirmed that whilst in the Netherlands Parker was “believed to have been in an altercation involving weapons that led to his death”. She added that because of the unnatural nature of his death a formal inquest would be required.
Ms Bhardwaj, sitting at Bootle Town Hall, listed further proceedings on December 18 this year for “review or conclusion depending on what information we have on that occasion”. The coroner earlier confirmed they were awaiting an ongoing investigation in the Netherlands.
The proceedings, which lasted less than five minutes, earlier heard that Parker was born in January 1974 in Liverpool and because of a lack of information from Europe his address was given as no fixed abode.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) previously told the ECHO: “We are supporting the family of a British man who died in the Netherlands and are in contact with the local authorities.”
It has previously been reported that Parker had entered the business – believed to be a garage in the north Netherlands city – to collect a debt. The Daily Mail reported this week that he was armed with a knife and two men, aged 44 and 65, were arrested afterwards in hospital.
Local news outlets also reported that at the time of his death, Parker had been wanted over the murder of Dutchman Pieter Hoovers, 62, and his partner, Tae Kawepanya, 32. The couple, who were living in Thailand, had returned to Amsterdam on holiday when they were ambushed inside a flat.
According to reporting by the regional broadcaster NH and newspaper Parool, investigators believe Parker was the man sought for the killings.
He was never arrested in connection with the offences, but an Amsterdam cold case team released information in May 2024 that the couple had probably been killed by a “British criminal“.
CCTV footage released as part of the police investigation showed the suspect three times on the day of the murders. Investigators said the gunman was dropped off at the murder scene in different cars each time.
The working assumption was that Mr Hoovers and Ms Kawepanya were not home during the suspect’s first visit so he had to return to finish the job. A third visit was probed as the killer returned to erase traces. Investigators offered a €20,000 reward for information.
Mr Hoovers, who had a background in martial arts, founded record label Outland Records before selling the business and relocating to Thailand in the mid-1990s.
A photo published by the Mail showed Parker on a boat with Mr Hoovers suggesting at some point there had been a friendship between the men.
The Mail also reported that Parker was believed to have left the UK around the turn of the millennium. It has also been reported that Parker and his brother, David, had both been jailed for their part in the killing of a teen during a botched drug deal.
Seventeen-year-old Phillip Green, from Warrington, was stabbed in the heart after he went to Walton Hall Park to buy cannabis. The Parker brothers were recorded by police discussing their roles in the incident, while Liverpool Crown Court heard a third unknown man was the one who delivered the stabbing.
The brothers were both jailed for five years. But Paul Parker later appeared on fresh charges after remaining unlawfully at large for four months. He received a further sentence of three months as a result.