Amanda Todd case: Dutch police found passport, cash stashed in stereo during property search

It was during a second police search of a bungalow at a Netherlands holiday park in January 2014 that Lt. Erik Verstraten testified he noticed something strange.

At the time, Verstraten was with the child sexual exploitation division. He took the stand again Tuesday in New Westminster at the trial of Dutch citizen Aydin Coban, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of extortion, child luring, harassment, and possession of child pornography.

The crown alleges Coban tried to use explicit images of Port Coquitlam teen Amanda Todd as leverage to get her to perform sex acts online when she was between the ages of 12 and 15. Todd died by suicide in 2012. Coban’s defence counsel has said the case is about whether the Crown can prove who was behind the messages sent to Todd.

Verstraten told the court during the second search on Jan. 14th he opened a box with a stereo inside, and found it strange to see the middle part of the stereo was uncovered while the speakers were still wrapped and sealed.

“When I lifted it out of the box, I felt something moving inside of it, and I saw a beige carton box inside the stereo set,” he testified.

Verstraten told the court when the stereo was disassembled, they found a small box inside with wrapping paper and tape attached to it.

He testified they found a Dutch passport inside with the name Aydin Coban, along with envelopes containing 10,000 euros, and a hard drive.

Photos from the police search displayed in court showed computer equipment on the bed in one of the rooms, and a guitar under it. Further images showed a black pouch inside the guitar, and then cash inside the pouch. Another photo described as being from the living room appeared to show another guitar. Photos were also taken of a cable running along the floor in the hallway, and several boxes in some of the rooms.

The jury also heard from a witness in the Netherlands who testified by video. Adem Gokcinar told the court he met Coban as a child, and then reconnected with him in 2011. He testified he helped Coban move to a bungalow months before he was arrested. Gokcinar told the court they had a shared interest in music, and Coban had a classical guitar, and ordered a second guitar after his move. He also told the court Coban had a laptop and also got a new desktop computer after his move.

In cross-examination, Gokcinar testified Coban would repair computers, including his own, and at one point remembered him making pamphlets to advertise fixing computers and replacing old hard drives.

 

Coban was first charged in 2014, and was later extradited to Canada. The defence has not yet presented its case. The trial is scheduled for seven weeks.