Pieter Vorstedt

Full name	Pieter Vorstedt
Gender	Male
Profession	Arjen Rudd's right-hand man Head of Security for the South African Consul
Weapon	Heckler & Koch P95 Walther PPK
Date of death	March 1988
Status	Deceased
First appearance	Lethal Weapon 2
Last appearance	Lethal Weapon 3 (indirectly mentioned)
Portrayer	Derrick O'Connor

Pieter "Adolf" Vorstedt was Arjen Rudd's right-hand man and the secondary antagonist of Lethal Weapon 2. He was a South African diplomat and Head of Security for the South African Consul in Los Angeles. Like Rudd, he also hated blacks which was common during Apartheid in South Africa.

Biography

During the fight with Martin Riggs, Vorstedt shows some form of martial arts that he may have learned working for the South African government (though his fighting level was far below Riggs's own level, being only able to "beat" the former Marine with a knife stuck on his leg). He also shows signs of being a knife thrower, which can be seen when he throws a knife at Riggs' leg.

Lethal Weapon 2

Vorstedt was in Arjen Rudd's office when Hans came in to tell him he lost the shipment of krugerrands. Rudd seems to forgive him stating that sometimes things don't go as planned, but suddenly he orders Vorstedt to kill him, which he does by shooting him in the head, and disposes of his body with plastic on the floor.

Later after wrapping up Hans in plastic, Rudd showed Vorstedt Roger Murtaugh's profile which he managed to steal at some point previously, and orders him to handle it any way he can. Vorstedt and some henchmen sneak into Murtaugh's home. They gag and tie him and his wife up with duct tape and mention to him that it's just been a warning to him and the other officers on the case to stay away.

The next day, Vorstedt was coming down the stairs with Rudd when the officers of the Los Angeles Police Department on the case showed up and proceed to arrest him and the others. He overhears Murtaugh call his partner Martin Riggs by name, familiarizing himself with the detective. He watches as Rudd reveals to the police his and Vorstedt's diplomatic immunity, in which neither can be arrested or charged.

Vorstedt is surprised to see Riggs make an entrance in Rudd's office and can only stare as he tells all the diplomats to stay away from him and his country. Then he randomly points his gun at each diplomat until Riggs shoots the fish tank and lets water spill loose along with the fish. Rudd gets furious and demands Vorstedt to clean up the mess, but he stares at the door seemingly plotting a scheme in his head. Later while Rudd's office is being cleaned up, Rudd warns Vorstedt about the piece of paper from the notepad had been taken Riggs, which would indicate to Rudd that that's why Riggs was there in the office before they got back, just before Rudd sends Vorstedt and some other henchmen to kill the detectives working on the case.

Later, when Tom Wyler is doing crunches in his home, Vorstedt breaks in and has a chat with him before he shoots him in the head. At the same time, a bomb he secretly planted on the diving board of Meagan Shapiro's swimming pool detonates as she is about to dive into the pool. Finally, a more dangerous explosive is implanted at Tim Cavanaugh's house, which explodes and kills him, Jerry Collins, Moss, and Friesen in the explosion.

Later, he knocks out Riggs after he dropped off Rika Van Den Haas at her apartment, which he and two henchmen proceed to kidnap and subsequently drown. He reveals to Riggs that he murdered his wife Victoria Lynn Riggs by mistake, by running her off the road, thinking Riggs was in the car and covered it to look like an accident. Then he walks away leaving his men to let Riggs drown and die. However, Riggs escapes and kills the two henchmen.

At Rudd's house, Vorstedt interrogates Leo asking for the money he swindled from them, which he receives severe beating for failing to answer his questions. He escapes when he finds out Riggs is pulling the stilthouse down with him, as Riggs and Murtaugh rescue Leo.

Later Riggs and Murtaugh track Rudd and Vorstedt to a shipping dock where Rudd is intending to illegally smuggle a large shipment of cash via the Alba Varden cargo ship. As Riggs is infiltrating Rudd's freighter, he kills several of the crew members and Vorstedt engage in a hand-to-hand combat after he throws a knife into Riggs' leg. At first, Vorstedt appears to have the upper hand, until Riggs eventually gets the knife out of his leg and stabs him in the stomach, but instead of killing Vorstedt right there with the knife, Riggs lets him go and walks away. With his remaining strength, Vorstedt picks himself up and points a gun at Riggs. However, before he can fire, Riggs presses a button on a remote control device used for loading and unloading cargo. Vorstedt looks up just in time to see a cargo container come crashing down on top of him, crushing him to death. His boss, Arjen Rudd, was to join him in death shortly thereafter.

Lethal Weapon 3

Even after being killed, consequences Pieter's actions caused were still responsible for Riggs' reckless behavior in Lethal Weapon 3, thus making him in some way a posthumous antagonist. 

Gallery

To view the Pieter Vorstedt gallery, click here.