2023-10-30 16:32:00
The individual who brutally murdered lawyer Claudia Van Der Stichelen, 58, at her home in Sint-Lievens-Houtem in East Flanders on Saturday followingnoon is still on the run. The federal police published this Monday a wanted notice aimed at finding the person who shot the lawyer in the back, and shot her son three times in the shoulder. The latter is out of danger. He had come to his mother’s aid with an imitation weapon when she was the subject of the attack. Claudia Van Der Stichelen’s husband, also a lawyer, made the macabre discovery when returning from a bike ride.
The individual “was wearing blue-green overalls or a dust jacket and was in possession of a gray or dark-colored backpack,” we can read in the wanted notice. “The man is aged between 60 and 65 years old. He is 1m80 tall, of normal build, has short gray hair and baldness. He speaks in Flemish. People who have images from dashcam, surveillance camera or other showing a person resembling the suspect located near the scene of the incident are asked to contact investigators.
“Everything indicates that we are in a crime of passion scenario.”
Since the publication of the wanted notice, the police have received around thirty denunciations from the population, according to our colleagues at Het Laatste Nieuws. “These denunciations should be taken with a pinch of salt,” according to Pierre Sculier, the president of the French- and German-speaking Bar Association (OBFG). According to initial hypotheses, the suspect might be the ex-partner of one of Maître Van Der Stichelen’s clients, specializing in divorce cases. “Everything indicates that we are in a scenario of a crime of passion. Many people confuse their opponent with the lawyer, which is not the same thing. This news item is similar to an assassination because the suspect seems having premeditated his act by going to the lawyer’s office with a gun.”
A lawyer shot dead in cold blood near her office, the suspect still on the run: “We don’t yet know who it is”
This murder caused shock waves within the profession. “It is with horror that we learned of the violent death of Claudia Van der Stichelen in Sint-Lievens-Houtem and the attempted shooting of her son. We express our condolences to all the relatives of the victims,” explains Sofie Demeyer, spokesperson for the Flemish Bar Association. “We hope their son recovers quickly. If the investigation shows that Ms. Van Der Stichelen was shot because she is a lawyer, it is extremely serious. This shows that the legal profession has become dangerous and that lawyers are vulnerable targets.”
Further protect lawyers in the exercise of their functions
According to her, measures must be taken to further protect lawyers in the exercise of their functions. “As part of the reform of the Penal Code, a section is devoted to vulnerable professions which must be protected by considering their attacks or attempted murder as an aggravating circumstance with therefore a heavier sentence. In this list, we find magistrates, clerks, postmen, journalists, but not lawyers. This function should also be included in this list to protect them further,” concludes Sofie Demeyer.
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