Man’s body found on Mount Kemmel next to dead deer: Autopsy sheds light on hunter’s death

This Monday, the body found Sunday followingnoon on the slopes of Mount Kemmel, in the municipality of Heuvelland, was identified as that of the experienced hunter and former lawyer Patrick Geelhand de Merxem (63 years old). It lay next to that of a dead deer and a hunting weapon. The body had a bullet wound. Regarding a suspicious death, the prosecution had descended on the scene and an investigation was opened.

This Tuesday evening, Het Laatste Nieuws reveals the results of the autopsy. According to the prosecutor of the king of West Flanders, Lies De Bondt, it is a suicide. “Our findings show that this is not an accident”she tells our colleagues.

Patrick Geelhand de Merxem was a lawyer from 1986 to 2020 and also former President of the Ypres Bar. He was also known as an avid hunter. He is notably the founder of the wildlife management unit “In Flanders Fields”.