The Assize Court of Hainaut will proceed, on Tuesday April 19 at 2:00 p.m. in the courts of justice in Mons, to draw lots for the jurors who will be responsible for judging, from Friday April 22 at 9:00 a.m., Francis Vandy. The former commissioner of the federal police of Charleroi is accused of having murdered two people who were fishing in his pond in Forchies-la-Marche, August 28, 2019.
Investigators link to disappearance
On August 29, 2019, Maria Ghelmegeanu went to the Brussels-West police to report the disappearance of her husband Gabriel. The day before, the latter went fishing with his brother, Constantin Tomescu, who had chosen a pond located in Forchies-la-Marche, in Hainaut, not far from his former home. At the same time, the Trieux police zone was warned by a resident of rue du Bosquet in Forchies-la-Marche of the suspicious presence, since the day before, of an Opel Zafira.
The police find that it is registered in the name of Constantin Tomescu, whose disappearance has just been reported in Brussels. Excavations are carried out by the police, who discover two lifeless bodies in a grove near the pond. It is indeed the two missing Romanians, one of them being identified by a tattoo.
The police found traces of blood and splashes. Fishing equipment was found near the pond belonging to a retired police commissioner, Francis Vandy, and his wife.
The son recognizes the former commissioner in a photo
While a neighbor told the police that she heard gunshots on August 28, Constantin Tomescu’s son told the investigators that he had gone fishing there with his father a few months earlier, and that two men had chased them away.
One was accompanied by a dog and the other was armed. He also fired towards the ground to scare them away. He recognizes Francis Vandy on a photographic panel presented by the investigators. A search is carried out on August 30 at the former policeman’s home where several firearms are discovered. When heard, he denies being involved in this double homicide. However, traces of blood are found on the clothes he was wearing on August 28.
The DNA fingerprints of both victims are on his pants and shoes. The former police officer, whose service weapon mysteriously disappeared during retirement, was placed under an arrest warrant on October 17, 2019. On January 13, 2020, Francis Vandy confessed. He declares “to have killed in order not to be killed“by the men who fished in his pond.
He maintained this version during the search organized on May 27, 2020 by the investigating judge. After leaving the army with the rank of corporal, Francis Vandy joined the Charleroi judicial police in 1974.
In 2000, he attained the rank of divisional commissioner following earning a license in criminology. He says he testified on several occasions before the Assize Court as part of his profession. From Tuesday, April 15, he will be tried by this same Assize Court.
