in a grave that contained the remains of three women that had been massacred.
These included members of the family of the expedition’s minister. His young
daughter had been beaten to death, and his teenage maidservant had been
stabbed. The captain’s journal of the trial includes the testimonies of how
these people had been killed. The minister’s wife and six children had all been
killed, with the maid, on the same day as Maijken. Many other murders are
recorded–the carpenter, the gunner and a sick cabin boy amongst them. Other
deaths resulted from sickness.
Speculation about the identities of the other victims in the mass grave
suggest that they were Hendrik Denijs, a company official who had been
beaten around the head; or Paschier van den Enden, who had been stabbed and
had his throat cut; as well as Jacob Hendricxsz, the carpenter, who was killed
in the same way. Hendricxsz had a bad knee, which would match one of the
skeletons. The third adult may have been Jan Pinten, an English soldier, whose
throat was cut on the same day. One of the children was probably the cabin
boy, and the last child may have been Hilletgien Hardens, a six year old girl
who had been strangled.
Unfortunately, the conditions for the survival of DNA are poor, and so far
no usable material has been recovered to help confirm these assumptions.
However, it is hoped that lead isotope analysis could lead to the identification
of Jan Pinten, who, coming from England, would have a different pattern of
isotopes from his Dutch companions.^9
EARLY MODERN CRIME