The Unsolved Murder of Maria Raedschelders: A Cold Case Investigation Reveals Surprising Clues

2024-01-05 09:26:00

Three years earlier, a 28-year-old journalist, Maria Raedschelders, was killed in Brussels; the matter has never been clarified. Investigators ignored the existence of the map which might be a valuable clue. She simply hung out in an attic for thirty years. Recently, a former journalist, Kurt Wertelaers, got his hands on it. And immediately understood the interest.

Having left journalism, Wertelaers created Bureau Van Meerbeeck, the agency that we presented yesterday, the first in Belgium specializing in cold cases. So, we appeal to our readers. Can the greeting card posted in 1990 in Namur and recently found by chance relaunch the investigation and give hope to the family of Maria Raedschelders, who has been waiting for the truth since 1987?

The surprising greeting card. ©Gil”The police know everything regarding the murder of Marielle Raedschalders.” ©Gil

Night meeting

Of Limburg origin, Maria Raedschelders, who was called Marielle, Mariëlle or Marjel, launched into journalism as a freelancer. Since the summer of 1987, she had been covering the shooting of a film which took place mainly in Binche, Ghent and Brussels, and for this, rented an apartment on rue du Government Provisoire, not far from Place Madou.

Tuesday October 27, 1987. We never knew why the journalist went out so late that night. Did she have a meeting, where, with whom? So many questions remained unanswered. The attack took place 70 meters from her home, while she was walking, apparently alone, on rue du Nord, heading towards Place des Barricades. A student heard her shout: “No, No, No.” It is then 1:13 a.m.

Marielle Raedschelders, stabbed in the back, died four hours later in the emergency room of Saint-Pierre hospital, without having regained consciousness. She was 28 years old. The investigation was entrusted to the criminal section of the Brussels PJ.

Full Moon Killer

There were no signs of sexual assault and nothing had been stolen. In the absence of a motive, the media suggested the trail of a mysterious “full moon killer” or a “surin killer”. The murderer has never been identified. Investigators suspected a petty criminal of Spanish origin found in possession of a knife. Antonio denied it tooth and nail and the case was closed the following year.

After a year! For the family, anger added to the grief. The parents have long since died but the sister, Relinde, is still seeking to know the truth. She contacted Kurt Wertelaers’ Bureau Van Meerbeeck.

The card was posted in Namur. ©GilWednesday November 28, 1990

Rightly so since this already led to the discovery of this enigmatic greeting card posted in Namur on November 28, 1990, three years following the murder. It was addressed to Marielle’s friend who had kept it for thirty years in a box in the attic. Neither the investigating judge Guy Laffineur nor his investigators, the commissioners Alain De Proft, Jean-Michel Le Moine and Jean-Marie Arnould, were ever aware of it.

Enigmatic, the map is in more than one way. Why did you send it three years later? What purpose ? How did the writer know Marielle’s friend and her address? Since the friend speaks Dutch, why did you write it in French? And why did you post it in Namur.

Threats

The writing is beautiful, there are few spelling errors. The writer begins by asserting that “the police know everything regarding the murder of Maria Raedschelders”. In fact, the police don’t know anything.

One word stands out, a possible motive: “jealousy”. Initially, the message is reassuring: “Have faith. All precautions were taken.” But the tone becomes threatening: “Absolute silence alone preserves you. Destroy this card right away.” In other words: Shut up. On the back of the envelope was an address – avenue Golenvaux, Namur. The address exists but the identity mentioned does not match anything. It would have been too simple.

Unarchived in 2017

Added to the mystery is another, very surprising insofar as it is internal to the Brussels public prosecutor’s office. In 2015, we questioned the prosecution regarding the murder of the journalist. Jean-Marc Meilleur, then spokesperson, responded that the dismissal took place on October 7, 1988, that Marielle’s family had still been authorized in 2002 to consult the file and that it had finally been archived for some time After.

Kurt Wertelaers, who checks everything, went to the Archives. He noticed strange things there: the box supposed to contain the repressive file was empty. Kurt Wertelaers only found a simple form indicating that an employee of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office took it “in April 2017”. The file, according to Kurt, was not returned. And no one knows where he is.

Why was a classified file, more than thirty years old, withdrawn? At whose request? From which magistrate? Was there anything new? Quite simply, where did this file go?

We talk regarding drugs and jealousy. ©GilYolande and Vincent

Finally, Marielle Raedschelders lived on rue du Government Provisional in Brussels, at number 54, first floor. The investigation learned that two French-speaking students lived on the third floor. It would be interesting if they, whose names would be Yolande and Vincent, would contact Kurt Wertelaers’ Bureau Van Meerbeeck.

Sometimes all it takes is a detail.

Relinde, Marielle’s sister, remains with her questions and always searches for the truth, for thirty-six years.

*Any information can be communicated to the address: [email protected]
1704453077
#years #greeting #card #rekindles #mystery #murder #journalist #Maria #Raedschelders #police