2023-10-02 14:06:00
The Namur Assize Court began the trial of Francis Vandy, 73, on Monday. After questioning the accused, the investigators presented their work.
Francis Vandy, a former member of the Federal Judicial Police, was convicted of murder and assassination and weapons law offenses on September 29, 2022 and sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Court of assizes of Hainaut. Decision which was overturned by the Court of Cassation on February 8, 2023.
The acts were committed on August 28, 2019 in Forchies-la-Marche (Fontaine-l’Evêque) once morest two brothers of Romanian origin. It was the family of the two brothers, aged 47 and 45, who reported their worrying disappearance on August 29 while they had gone fishing in the Courcelles region, aboard their Opel Zafira, a suspicious car which had was reported in Forchies-la-Marche at the same time. The bodies were discovered near the ponds on August 29 around 10 p.m., ballistic holes were immediately noted on the faces of the two victims.
Francis Vandy, owner of the pond, was immediately considered suspect. The son of one of the victims stated that Vandy had surprised them while they were fishing there a few months earlier and that he had fired towards the ground in their direction. When questioned, Vandy initially affirmed that he had nothing to do with this double murder.
During a search, numerous weapons were found at Vandy’s home. His computer revealed that just following the incident, he searched for the following terms: “self-defense,” “DNA,” “frontotemporal dementia.” The shell casing found on site indicated that the hollow-headed bullet fired came from a Glock, a weapon used by the police, to which the accused had belonged in the past. The victims’ DNA was also found on the personal effects of the former police officer, as well as on a fishing rod found at Vandy’s house.
Questioned regarding the facts, the suspect initially mentioned coincidences and reported memory lapses regarding his schedule on the evening of the double homicide. He finally confessed to the facts on January 13, 2020, during a spontaneous statement. He explains that his “attackers” threw themselves at him “like wild beasts” and that, “mad with rage and mad with pain” following a blow received in the stomach, he fired. He declared “to have killed so as not to be killed” and explained that he initially denied the facts, “the time to put his family safe and protected from reprisals”.
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