Pieter Vorstedt

"I'm the guy that changes the course of your life, man."

- Pieter Vorstedt to Martin Riggs

Pieter "Adolph" Vorstedt is the secondary antagonist in the 1989 film Lethal Weapon 2. He is the right-hand man to Arjen Rudd and the man who murdered Riggs' wife during Riggs' earlier case as a cop and thus indirectly responsible for making Riggs suicidal and dangerous in the first film and overall shaping the character of Riggs in the franchise.

He is portrayed by Derrick O'Connor.

Biography
Vorstedt is Arjen Rudd's head of security, and he tries to scare Detectives Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh so they cease their investigation into Rudd's affairs. When that fails, he starts killing their police friends one by one. Just before he has Riggs killed, Vorstedt reveals that he's responsible for the death of Riggs' wife before having Rika killed, who had betrayed Rudd.

Later Riggs and Murtaugh tracks Rudd and Vorstedt to a shipping dock where Rudd is intending to illegally smuggle a large shipment of gold kreugerrands. As Riggs is infiltrating Rudd's freighter, he is attacked by a knife-wielding Vorstedt and they begin to fight. At first, Vorstedt appears to have the upper hand until Riggs eventually stabs him with his own blade; however, instead of killing Vorstedt, 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.

Trivia

 * Vorstedt is the personal arch-enemy to Riggs (see description at top of page).