Hilde suffocated her crippled husband Jo D. in his bed before apparently attempting suicide, the West Flanders prosecutor’s office (Kortrijk section) reported on Friday. The couple were found in bed on Wednesday. The man had passed away and the woman was very dazed. She was transferred to the emergency room of the AZ Groeninge hospital center.
The autopsy showed that the man had been suffocated. An investigating judge was therefore required. During her hearing, the woman, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), admitted that she had smothered her crippled husband with a pillow. The prosecution requested her arrest for the murder of her husband.
The news plunged the neighborhood in which the couple lived in horror. “Jo’s life was turned upside down last year when he had his stroke and everything changed for Hilde too. Whoever intended to take care of her as long as possible suddenly became needy himself. It’s appalling what happened,” a neighbor told Laatse Nieuws.
“They must have been distraught, there is no other way. Jo and Hilde are a very jovial couple. Committed people who ignore themselves and are always ready to help others. They are also involved in the community,” adds another. The disease then came to upset their lives. First multiple sclerosis, then a stroke… While he was on vacation in France, Jo suffered a stroke which partially paralyzed him. “Their lives changed overnight.”
