Jacob “Jaap” Bornkamp was originally from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, but moved to London, England when he was nineteen years old to pursue a career as a florist. He found success almost immediately, landing a job with the prestigious firm Pulbrook and Gould, which provided floral arrangements for royals and important political figures.
When Jaap was thirty-two years old, he met his partner Danny O’Neill, and the couple opened their own floral business in London. They would eventually be the company behind the flowers seen at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. It seemed that Jaap and Danny’s future was looking bright.
Sadly, though, it all came crashing down in the summer of 2000, when Jaap was fifty-two years old. On the morning of June 4th, Jaap and his friend Richard were walking home from an establishment called 309, a 24-hour sauna frequented by the gay community. Suddenly, both Jaap and Richard were set upon by two stocky men who passed them in the street. Jaap was stabbed in the heart, and though he held on for a few hours following the attack, he later died from his injuries at Lewisham Hospital. Richard was also injured but ultimately survived.
Though there was CCTV footage of the crime, it was far too grainy to be of much use, despite NASA’s help in enhancing the image. Two men were subsequently arrested for the murder but soon released due to lack of evidence. The two passersby who helped Jaap and Richard following the assault also remain unidentified.
Authorities were certain the attack had been motivated by homophobia, as it was otherwise unprovoked, but the troubling fact was that homophobia was also rampant in the police force investigating the crime, and some suspected that the investigation was hindered due to this bias.
Though the murder of Jaap Bornkamp was tragic, it led to a better understanding between police and the gay community, and also spurred a change in the UK’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority scheme, which had previously only provided monetary restitution for the opposite-sex partners of crime victims. After Jaap’s partner Danny campaigned to then Prime Minister Tony Blair, the rule was altered to allow same-sex partners to receive the same benefit. Danny, in fact, was the first to receive compensation under the new ruling.
The horrific and random hate-crime murder of Jaap Bornkamp remains open, but is unresolved as of this writing in late 2023.
Crime Immemorial 