The Mons Court of Appeal sentenced on Tuesday the former member of the Flemish Parliament, Christian Van Eyken, to 20 years in prison, and his wife Sylvia B. to 22 years in prison for the assassination of Marc Dellea, the ex-companion of the latter, in July 2014. The unfortunate man had been shot in the head in the Laeken apartment he shared with Sylvia B. There was no trace of a break-in. Neither the weapon nor the victim’s cell phone were found. Images from CCTV cameras placed in the lobby of the building show the defendants leaving the apartment the night of the crime. Marc Dellea then gave no sign of life.
The sentence is “slightly less important” for Mr. Van Eyken because it appears from the file that the animosity towards the victim is greater in the head of Sylvia B., who also has some influence over her husband, notes the ‘stop.
From 23 to 27 years old
In September 2019, the Brussels Criminal Court found them guilty of this crime and sentenced them to 23 years in prison. The couple, who fiercely deny any involvement in the death of Mr. Dellea, had appealed once morest this judgment. In February 2021, the court of appeal confirmed their guilt and increased the sentence to 27 years in prison. The Van Eyken couple had been arrested at the hearing.
They remained four months in prison until the Court of Cassation partially overturned the judgment on the sentence. The High Court ruled that the appellate judges breached the rights of the defense by relying on the couple’s persistent denial to justify the increased penalty.
The case was then sent back to the Mons Court of Appeal which was to retry the two defendants, but only on the sentence. The couple had already been convicted twice.
At the end of a curious trial which however mainly reopened the debates on the merits of the case, the sanction was therefore fixed on Tuesday, slightly less than at first instance. The Mons Court of Appeal notably took into account the absence of a criminal record. Advocate General Laure Wynands, who had requested 25 years in prison, called for the immediate arrest of the convicted.
