BONAIRE (25 Oct 2008) — A convicted rapist has confessed to the brutal murder of a young tourist on the island of Bonaire. Ryan Pieters, 27, said he killed 24-year-old Dutch woman Marlies van der Kouwe after she refused to give him her handbag. Pieters pulled the young woman off her bicycle and when she resisted his attempts to steal her bag, he strangled her. Pieters then used his scooter to move the victim's body to Amboina, a remote part of Bonaire. According to unconfirmed reports, he dismembered the body and attempted to burn the body parts before burying them in the woods. Pieters killed Van der Kouwe just three months after he was released from prison, where he was serving a six-year sentence for kidnapping and raping a 22-year-old Czech tourist on Bonaire. Local authorities investigating the murder declined to comment on the case pending completion of their investigation. | 
