fell out with Endstra. Endstra secretly testified to the police about Holleeder, but was shot dead near his office in 2004. It is suspected that Holleeder, along with his partner-in-crime Dino Soerel, ordered the murder of both Willem Endstra and John Mieremet, who was shot in Thailand on 2 November 2005. Holleeder's name keeps turning up in this connection although three suspects in the Endstra murder, Ali N. and C. Özgür of Alkmaar and Cleon D. from Almere have been released. According to Endstra, Holleeder was involved in 25 murders, including that of Cor van Hout. The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported on 16 July 2006 that Holleeder and Cor van Hout had planned to kidnap Prince Bernhard instead of Freddy Heineken in the 1980s. Thomas van der Bijl, who was murdered in his bar in Amsterdam in April 2006, made these allegations in a deposition before the Dutch national police. 2007 trial and sentencing Holleeder's 2006 trial was dubbed the trial of the century. His lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, argued that media depictions of Holleeder as one of the "topcriminelen" had prejudiced the case against him. However, Moszkowicz was forced to resign after media allegations of conflict of interest, since he had also been the lawyer for Willem Endstra. Among the witnesses in the trial was lawyer Bram Zeegers, who testified that Holleeder had been extorting millions of euros from Endstra between 2000 and 2004. A week after the testimony, Zeegers was found dead of a drug overdose. In late 2007, Holleeder underwent a heart valve surgery; initially, reports of his failing health were thought to be a hoax, but present medical opinion appears to suggest that he is indeed in poor health and may not survive the present sentence. Whilst under detention in 2008, he was arrested for alleged involvement in the murder of Yugoslav drug dealer Serge Miranovic in 2006. Holleeder was found guilty of extortion and sentenced to nine years in prison, at a time held in Nieuw Vosseveld. His subsequent appeal was turned down by the appeals court in July 2009. After his release Holleeder was released from De Schie prison in Rotterdam on 27 January 2012, after serving two-thirds of his nine-year term. He had been due to be released on 31 January but was let out early to avoid publicity. After his release he appeared on television in the show College Tour in 2012.