2023-11-16 13:52:00
The Hainaut Assize Court and the jurors pronounced, on Thursday, a sentence of 28 years of criminal imprisonment once morest Anneliese Audain and a sentence of 20 years of criminal imprisonment once morest Didier Bauwens. They are deprived of their civil rights in perpetuity.
On Wednesday, they were found guilty of murdering Luis Gonzalez Rojas in Bois d’Haine (Manage), on the night of February 16 to 17, 2020, with nine shots fired in the head, neck and thorax.
They then got rid of the body by slipping it into a tarpaulin, thrown into the trunk of the victim’s professional vehicle. It was found partially submerged in the Canal du Center on the morning of February 17.
During the deliberation on the sentence, the jury and the court took into account mitigating circumstances in favor of Anneliese Audain, the absence of a criminal record, her life story and her involvement in her role as a mother.
Didier Bauwens also benefits from mitigating circumstances: the absence of a criminal record and his unstructured life course, which did not prevent him from working.
Together for ten years
Anneliese Audain and Luis Gonzalez Rojas lived in a small house, located rue de l’Égalité in Bois d’Haine. Together for ten years, the couple had their ups and downs. He worked in a company in Seraing, Pirson Montage, and he sometimes went on missions to the country of his ancestors, Spain. She was an invalid and took care of the household.
Around the couple gravitated Didier Bauwens, Anneliese’s confidant, the latter’s twins and Luis’s son. According to some, Uncle Didier was not very intrusive, which annoyed Luis. According to others, the two men got along quite well.
In 2018, the couple struggled. Anneliese begins to do research on the Internet which suggests that she is trying to get rid of Luis. A year later, she was given an anxiolytic, Diazepam, by her doctor.
Return from Spain
It is February 2020. Luis returns from a six-week professional mission in Spain. He spends an evening with his best friend, looking following his son with whom he shares a passion for football. Luis has no idea what is going on behind his back. For several weeks, his partner has been constantly asking him for money to order furniture for the Londerzeel chalet. Anneliese must sign the deed of purchase on February 18.
For several days, Anneliese and Uncle Didier have been very active on the Internet. They are looking to know the side effects of Diazepam. Didier suddenly becomes interested in the navigation times on the Canal du Centre. He also visited around thirty times along the canal on February 14 and 15. He’s looking for a weapon too.
Didier runs a café, where they talk a lot regarding weapons. Didier also has a brother, a shady character who proclaimed himself number one suspect in the Brabant Killings affair, which was never solved. This brother knows other sulphurous characters from the Center, like Francesco, who manages to sell him his cousin’s 22 rifle.
The evening of the crime
On Sunday, February 16, Luis eats a salad with his son, just before watching the 9 p.m. match. Anneliese prepared the meal in two different dishes. He enjoys it. Anneliese arranges so that her children do not sleep at home. She also insists that Luis’ son returns to his mother in Tubize on Sunday, instead of Monday.
She drives him home, returns home, but does not fall asleep. She exchanges messages with Didier, who is at his mother’s house in La Hestre. For several minutes, they no longer exchange messages. Anneliese goes out for a few minutes, then comes back, then leaves, then comes back. She said she was worried regarding the absence of her companion, but only reported his disappearance to the police at 10:45 a.m.
Macabre discovery
On Monday February 17, 2020, around 5:30 a.m., a boatman saw a van partially submerged in the Canal du Centre, near Bois d’Haine. Three hours later, the police discovered a body, wrapped in a tarpaulin, in the trunk of the van bearing the name Pirson Montage. The body is riddled with nine bullets.
Luis Gonzalez Rojas is identified. The police go to his house, but none of the ten officers notice anything suspicious.
Investigation
The investigation continues. The autopsy confirms that Luis was shot nine times, either at close range or hitting. Every shot was deadly.
But above all, the expert toxicologist noted an abnormally high level of Diazepam in the gastric contents, the equivalent of three pills of a medicine not usually consumed by the victim. A unique take, according to the expert.
The ballistics expert, for his part, is categorical: the murder weapon is a 22 caliber. However, the murder weapon has disappeared.
Diazepam, caliber 22, channel… or the Internet searches found on the phones of Anneliese and Didier! The latter are questioned as witnesses, then as suspects. They repeat that they are innocent. They are nevertheless placed under arrest warrant for assassination and placed in preventive detention.
The trial
Last June, their trial was postponed due to a lack of magistrates available to form the Assize Court. They are released from prison, but remain held under electronic surveillance.
During the first day of the trial, which began almost two weeks ago, they stuck to their position, they were innocent. Confronted with the elements of the investigation, Internet searches, messages exchanged the night of the crime which were mysteriously deleted, their schedule on the night of the events or even bank transactions during the night, the accused do not confess . Either they have a strange explanation, or they undermine the questions asked by the court, the jurors and the lawyers.
Guilty!
On Wednesday, the jurors returned a guilty verdict, following the arguments developed by the prosecution. They killed Luis like a dog and disposed of him like something abandoned in the canal.
The crime might have been perfect if the van had sunk into the canal. A block of concrete slowed its course, which made it possible to find the body quite quickly and to identify valuable clues. Science and new technologies have enabled twelve citizens of Hainaut to bring the judicial truth.
On Thursday, the public prosecutor demanded the assassins be returned to prison. Defense lawyers objected. The court decided to leave them under electronic surveillance for the time being.
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