Belgian police give up mass murder case – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country

No one knows who they were, or how many were there. But it is clear that they were among the worst murderers in Europe after the war. Between 1982 and 1985 killed . “Bende van Nijvel” – also known as “The crazy killers from Brabant” – 28 people in the area around Brussels. A further 22 were injured. The 28, among them several children, were killed in a series of robberies at supermarkets, hotels and a weapons store, writes AFP. “The Giant”, “The Murderer” and “The Old Man” It is not clear how many were in the gang. Eyewitnesses have described the robberies differently, with between four and ten taking part. Three people appear to have been regulars in the robberies. The descriptions earned them the nicknames “The Giant”, “The Murderer” and “The Old Man”, writes the BBC. A widespread theory was that the “Murderer” himself was killed in a shootout with the police in connection with the last robbery in 1985. But no body was ever found, neither then nor later. Little yield A drawing sent out by the police in 2010 of one of the suspects. Photo: HO / AFP Most of the robberies were at supermarkets. Employees, customers and children were shot and killed. In the last robbery, in 1985, they killed eight people. Despite the brutal procedure, the gang got little profit. In total, the gang got around 7 million Belgian francs, equivalent to around 2 million Norwegian kroner, writes The Guardian. Many theories The low yield and the many people killed led to speculation about the motive for the murders. Among other things, some believed that it was right-wing extremists who were behind it. Their motive was allegedly to destabilize the Belgian state. As no one was caught, active and former police officers became suspects. According to The Guardian, in 2015 a former police officer admitted to the murders when he was on his deathbed, without this leading to any clarification. This photo was sent anonymously to Belgian police in 1986 and was supposed to represent one of the killers. But that didn’t lead to any arrests either. Photo: Belgian Federale Politie Many investigations Both in the years of the 1980s and in the years after, the murders have been thoroughly investigated. 2748 sets of fingerprints have been checked. 598 DNA samples have been compared with traces from the crime scenes. More than 40 people have been exhumed for examination. Several people have been arrested and charged. But no one has ever been convicted. On Friday, Belgian police made it clear that they are dropping the case. – All possible investigations have been done. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get the truth on the table. They said the head of Belgium’s federal public prosecutors, Ann Fransen, at a press conference. Published 29.06.2024, at 14.04



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