Alleged assassinations in Belgian history

A few names have been omitted. Might be expanded in the future, just as some of the bios. Notice how many of the suspected assassinations are linked to the criminal fascist network of CEPIC (most notably Paul Vanden Boeynants), or later on to Nihoul and the Julie and Melissa case.

Julien Lahaut, 18 Augustus 1950, Murder: During the inauguration of King Baudouin in 1951, someone shouted "Vive la République," which is usually attributed to communist party chairman Julien Lahaut (although it might have been someone sitting next to him), a long time very popular politician. Later prime minister (and fascist) Paul Vanden Boeynants went berserk and had to be restrained from attacking the communist party at the gathering. A week later, Lahaut was shot in front of his home by two unknown persons. Only recently it became known that one of the assassins, "Adolphe," was part of the Belgian Stay-Behind network (Gladio in Italy).

Miss Crockaert, Around 1980, Traffic accident: In the Pinon Dossier (the affair started in 1979) Lady Crockaert admitted to having been a co-organizer of the "pink ballets" (sex orgies in which it is suspected that under aged children regularly took part). She also said these sex parties were attended by Prince (later King) Albert II, but only when there were under aged children present.

Luc Vanden Daele, 13 Maart 1981, Suicide: IT specialist at the Gendarmerie who, against the will of his superiors, was privately investigating the drug trafficking charges against the National Bureau for Drugs (NBD; set up and controlled by the gendarmerie and Paul Vanden Boeynants). Before being shot dead in his own neighborhood, he had stated to colleagues that he knew the identities of those involved in the drug trafficking. After his death it turned out that his file cabinet had been broken into and all his files had been stolen. Van den Daele's death was ruled a suicide and no investigation was ever done. His colleagues claimed he was murdered.

Adjutant Guy Goffinon, 12 Oktober 1981, Attempted murder: One of two chief investigators in the 1980 National Bureau for Drugs (NBD) affair.

Lt.-col. Herman Vernaillen, 26 Oktober 1981, Attempted murder: One of two chief investigators in the 1980 National Bureau for Drugs (NBD) affair.

Elise Dewit, 17 September 1983, Gang of Nijvel: CEPIC-member. Sexclub owner. Had been a central figure in organizing the pink ballets.

Jacques Fourez, 17 September 1983, Gang of Nijvel: CEPIC-member. Sexclub owner. Had been a central figure in organizing the pink ballets.

Jacques Van Camp, 2 Oktober 1983, Gang of Nijvel: CEPIC member. Owned the restaurant Aux trois Canards. Said to have been good friend of Jacques Fourez and Elise Dewit, who often frequented his restaurant. Van Camp was believed to be equally involved with the Pink Ballets. Alleged child abusers Jean-Paul Dumont, Paul Vanden Boeynants and gendarmerie general Fernand Beaurir regularly went to eat at Aux trois Canards. X2 said her pimp, Oliver Castiaux, also went to Aux trois Canards and knew Van Camp.

Paul Latinus, 24 April 1984, Suicide: Nazi. Recruited by the DIA in 1967, age 17. Trained by NATO. Reserve lieutenant with the Air Force. Paid informant of State Security. Recruited as an intelligence agent by PIO in 1977, which was controlled by Paul Vanden Boeynants and Baron de Bonvoisin. Recommended everywhere by the CEPIC leadership, among them Paul Vanden Boeynants and Baron de Bonvoisin. Member Front de la Jeunesse, controlled by Baron de Bonvoisin. Founder Westland New Post (WNP) in 1981. Named as one of the leaders of Group G. Afraid he was going to be killed. Committed suicide in 1984 by hanging himself with a telephone wire which hardly could support even half of his weight.

Jules Montel, 11 Augustus 1985, Murder: Professional gambler. Small-time criminal. Informant to a number of police services. Around Montel's death, magistrate Claude Leroy wanted him to testify about his role as an informant about Gang of Nijvel-related affairs. Turned out to be in the possession of one of the weapons of the assassinated Juan Mendez, a member of a Nazi underground group which was tied to the WNP and Front de la Jeunesse. Shot several times in the head by killers who were not interested in his wallet.

Leon Finne, 27 September 1985, Gang of Nijvel: CEPIC member and director of Banque Copine back in 1973. Said to have been a financier of illegal arms sales to Israel and Arab countries. Told lieutenant-colonel Herman Vernaillen (who survived an assassination attempt) in 1980 that a silent fascist coup was ongoing in Belgium and that some of the key players were Paul Vanden Boeynants and state police general Fernand Beaurir.

Jan Palsterman, 9 November 1985, Gang of Nijvel: Friend and business partner of Léon Finne.

Juan Mendez, 7 Januari 1986, murder: Born in 1952. Fascist gun-lover who owned dozens of rifles and pistols. Arms merchant at Fabrique National (FJ) whose Peruvian predecessor fled Belgium after it was found out he worked for the CIA and was involved in the illegal arms and drug trade. Involved with the fascist underground since the late 1970s and was tested to be introduced to higher circles by Bouhouche. Part of Bouhouche's group to some day conduct a terror-extortion campaign against warehouses. Interrogated several weeks before his murder about his connection to Douglas Stowell, a rich American who apparently was working for or with the CIA in Iran-Contra. One MP5 machine gun stolen from the Diana Group was found at his home after he was killed. Almost certainly murdered by Madani Bouhouche, who took order from Front de la Jeunesse and the Westland New Post.

Son of Joris Vivelle, 1989, Murder: Vernaillen almost certainly survived an assassination attempt in 1981 because he unexpectedly was riding along in the car of a gendarme officer named Joris Vivelle. Vivelle's son was kidnapped in southern France in 1989 (probably during the summer vacation from June to August) and found back badly mutilated. Several months earlier, in May 1989, now lt.-col. Herman Vernaillen of the gendarmerie supplied Andre Bourgeois, head of an investigating committee, with names of people who back in 1980 were trying to destabilize the Belgium state in order to bring in a more hard-right government. These names included Paul Vanden Boeynants, Jose Desmarets (former PSC vice premier) Jean Militis (special forces Col. and PRL member of parliament), Lt.-Gen. Vivario (Army chief of staff) prosecutor Raymond Charles and General Beaurir. Vernaillen had been given these names in 1980 by Leon Finne (murdered), a former CEPIC member and banker who used to be involved in illegal arms sales.

Andre Cools, 18 Juli 1991, Murder: Very important and prominent Belgian politician. His death has continually been tied to illegal arms deals.

Patrick Haemers, 14 mei 1993, Suicide: Notorious gang leader in the 1980s. Became well known after he was arrested for his part in the kidnapping of former prime minister Paul Vanden Boeynants in early 1989. Hung himself with a radio cord in his jail cell in 1993. According to police informants, Haemers had privately stated he had been given the assignment to kidnap VDB by a powerful and clandestine "organization", which he described as consisting of "dangerous mad men". His contact to this organization was Michel Vander Elst, who would later be accused of child abuse in the X-Dossiers and would provide the alibi for Jean-Michel Nihoul.

Jean-Pol Taminiau, 2 April 1995, Murder: Criminal involved in trade in stolen cars, who used to be a bar/brothel owner where Charleroi's high society went. Disappeared in April 1995 after having bought a gun and having told a friend that he was in the possession of important information. Taminau rented a garage to an accomplice of Dutroux. The garage was located right across a garage owned by Dutroux. In 1996, a fisherman retrieved a foot that once belonged to Taminiau from the channel in Charleroi. His body was never found.

Alexandre Gosselin, 4 Juli 1995: Neighbor Bernhard Weinstein, one of those implicated in the Dutroux affair (even though he was dead by then).

Francois Reyskens, 26 Juli 1995, Suicide: A 28 year old drug addict and possibly a dealer. Found dead on a railroad track the day he was to give information about the kidnapped Melissa Russo to gendarme officer Melon. According to Carine Russo, Reyskens had noticed the children (Julie and Melissa) in a bar in Maastricht and had spoken to them.

Guy Goebels, 25 Augustus 1995, Suicide: Gendarme officer and one of the lead investigators into the disappearance of Julie and Melissa. Found dead next to his gun, which lead to the "obvious" conclusion: suicide. His family very much doubted this as Goebels loved his life and didn't have any serious problems. The parents of Melissa Russo also didn't believe the official explanation. Two days before his death, Goebels decided with colleagues to expand the investigation into the kidnapping of Julie and Melissa.

Bruno Tagliaferro, 5 November 1995: Poisoned Owner of a junk yard who knew Mikhael Diakostavrianos, one of the accomplices of Dutroux and Lelievre in kidnapping girls from eastern Europe. Tagliaferro allegedly took apart the car in which Julie and Melissa were kidnapped and somehow knew about this kidnapping. His wife testified that Tagliaferro predicted his own death, because he knew too much. A certain Thierry, who was an accomplice of Nihoul and Dutroux, told investigators that Dutroux was looking for a hitman to kill Tagliaferro and his wife. He offered Thierry the job, who declined. Tagliaferro's death was labeled a heart attack. His wife claimed that he was poisoned and was proven right in 1996, after Tagliaferro's body had been dug up. Some time after Dutroux's arrest, his wife wanted to tell everything she knew about Dutroux and his gang. On December 18, 1998, several days before she was to be interviewed, she was found dead (partially burned next to her bed) by her 14 year old son. Evidence pointed out she had tried to escape while someone else broke into the house. Her death was labeled either a suicide or accident.

Bruno Vandeuren, 1995, Murder: Named as a Gang of Nijvel member by Jean Bultot. Congressman and senator Hugo Coveliers went to investigate, but before he could speak to Vandeuren this person had been killed by a bullet in the head.

Simon Poncelet, 21 Februari 1996, Murder: Policeman who was shot during night service when he was alone at the police station. It is forbidden for anyone on night duty to open the door, unless he knows the person. However, the cameras didn't work so it isn't known what happened. Poncelet was working ferociously on cases dealing with the international trade in stolen cars, which was closely related to Dutroux and Nihoul. Poncelet's father, an attorney-general in Doornik, suspects his son was murdered for stumbling across a child kidnapping and abuse network. The Justice Department didn't want to hear it.

Michel Binon, 22 Augustus 1996, Suicide: Old acquaintance Marc Dutroux.

Michel Piro, 5 December 1996: Murder Person who wanted to organize a diner in remembrance of Julie and Melissa, and at the same time wanted to inform the parents of some of the things he knew. Piro used to frequent the same clubs as Michel Nihoul. Before his murder, he had spoken about having been threatened by a number of armed men. His spouse, whom he apparently regularly battered, is said to have ordered his murder, but the actual killers have never been caught.

Theo Vandyck, Januari 1997, Stroke: Interviewer of Nathalie W. and the only person she completely trusted. The new interviewers were loyal to Commandant Duterme and began sabotaging the investigation.

Jean-Marc Houdmont, 25 Februari 1997, Traffic accident: A filmmaker who died in a traffic accident while on his way to testify about the kidnapping of a girl named Elisabeth Brichet. Houdmont was known to be into pedophile videos.

Anonymous, Februari 1997, almost traffic accident: Mother of the family who had seen Nihoul with Dutroux at the Bertrix's swimming pool the day before Laetitia's kidnapping. The family's statements and actions were completely misrepresented by the press (with help from the gendarmerie). In February 1997, the mother was almost hit by a car. Around the same time, the family received numerous anonymous phone calls, they were followed by a car and men attempted to break into their home. The right hand of the controversial police commissioner Georges Marnette (accused of child abuse) had to support the family, but miserably failed in that.

Joseph Toussaint, 5 Maart 1997, Heart attack: Priest to whom Michelle Martin, the wife of Dutroux, used to confess her sins.

Christian Coenraets, 7 Maart 1997: Suicide Said to have been a pedophile who knew Bernard Weinstein well. Coenraets was incarcerated in a prison in Brussels when he managed to escape during transfer, coincidentally one day before he was to be questioned about his ties to Weinstein. A month later Coenraets was found dead in a suburb of Brussels.

José Steppe, 25 April 1997, Unknown: A citizen of Charleroi who had many contacts in his neighborhood. He occasionally worked as an informant to a journalist. Several months after Dutroux's arrest, Steppe contacted the journalist and appeared to in a panic. He said that he had important information about Dutroux. The journalist didn't immediately schedule an appointment with Steppe and would never see him alive again. Soon after informing the journalist, Steppe was found dead in his home while a Rohypnol tablet, often used by Dutroux, was found in his respirator. The Justice Department never investigated Steppe's death.

Virginie Pinon, 2 Juli 1997, mucoviscidose: Almost-victim of Dutroux.

Gérard Vannesse, 16 November 1997, Trombose: Gendarme officer and one of the runners of Nihoul.

Brigitte Jenart, 5 April 1998, Suicide: Former girlfriend of Juan Borges, a partner in crime of Nihoul and Bouty. On October 6, 1986, Lt.-Col. Guido Torrez, head of the Neufchateau district of the gendarmerie (in part responsible for terminating the investigation into Nihoul in 1996), received a phone call from Nihoul to leave Borges alone. Borges was a business partner of Nihoul in the underworld, and was involved in the illegal trade of gold, drugs, fake dollars, art and apparently also humans. He had high level connections to the Italian mafia and fascist members of the Jonathan Club like Frederic Godfroi (inspector of the BOB in Brussels who became a gang leader; friend of Jean Bultot and acquainted with Nihoul). In 1985-1986, Borges owned the firm Candy Medical, which was a front for illegal weapons trafficking. This firm was located in a building owned by the Security Bureau of the European Union/Commission, headed by fascist Pierre Eveillard, whose brother was a police commissioner and protector of the Dolo. Brigitte Jenart, Borges' girlfriend since 1983 who only found out about the criminal circuit he was involved with after a while, in 1996 claimed it took only one call from Bouty at the time for the gendarmerie to leave Borges alone. Jenart also claimed that Bouty had it checked once in a while if Borges had not appeared on an internal watchlist of the gendarmerie. Jenart committed suicide in April 1998, after a long time of locking herself up in her house.

Anna Konjevoda, 8 April 1998, Murder: In late 1996, Konjevoda called Connerotte's green line, which the examining magistrate had opened for possible witnesses to the Dutroux network. She wanted to provide information about the business of Dutroux, Lelievre and Weinstein in eastern Europe, but was never invited to testify. 1,5 years later she was beaten up and strangled, after which she was thrown into the Maas (a river).

Gina Pardaens-Bernaer, 15 November 1998, Traffic accident: On November 15, 1998, one of the (part-time) Morkhoven Workgroup investigators, Gina Pardaens-Bernaer, died when she drove into a bridge pillar. Few in her surroundings believed this to be an accident. Pardaens had spoken to a number of friends about a video of a sex party in which a little girl was abused and murdered. She thought to have recognized one the participants in that video as a close associate of Michel Nihoul. It was also said that she had gotten her hands on evidence of a Belgian-French-Swiss child abuse network, and had sent what she had to a very interested Swiss police. In the weeks and days before her death, Pardaens had been warned off her investigation on many occasions: she had received numerous death threats; her son had been run off his bike by a car; emails and phone calls had been intercepted; strangers followed her on the streets and in cars; during a train ride she had been stopped by men who told her to cease her inquiries; at times her phone calls, fax machine and internet were jammed; and she had been interrogated and intimidated over one of the children she had been trying to find.

Fabienne Jaupart, 18 December 1998, Died in fire: Widow of Bruno Tagliaferro, who was murdered on November 15, 1995. Jaupart clearly was murdered, the motive being that she was about to testify about the Dutroux gang.

Marie France Botte, 1998, Failed suicide: Had initially supported Nathalie W., one of the X-witnesses who could back up some of the claims made by X1, like that Nihoul was part of the abuse network, together with X1's pimp, Tony.

Hubert Massa, 13 Juli 1999, suicide: Hubert Massa was the chief prosecuting attorney of the investigation into Dutroux. He also was the lead investigator into the 1991 murder of Andre Cools. It is not known why he decided to shoot himself one day. After his death, Michel Bourlet stated that Massa was "an extremely balanced magistrate," whose death was a serious loss to the prosecution.

Grégory Antipine, 15 Augustus 1999, Suicide: Policeman who had worked with the corrupt Brussels police commissioner Georges Marnette in setting up Elio Di Rupo and Jean-Pierre Grafe. This was an important piece of disinformation that served to discredit claims of members from high society being involved in pedophile networks. Antipine might not have known that he was used by Marnette, because like De Baets, he came to the conclusion that Marnette and associates had purposely manipulated the testimonies of Olivier Trusgnach. Antipine decided to hang himself on August 14, 1999 while he was about to get a promotion. It is also not known, as a gun enthusiast, why he didn't just shoot himself.

Sandra Claeys, 4 November 1999, Suicide: A former girlfriend of Michel Lelièvre.

Klaus Bahr, 16 November 2000, Traffic accident: Important porn dealer who was to be heared about the disappearance of Julie and Melissa.

Jean-Jacques Feront, 1 Maart 2001, heart attack: Pedophile hunter who became involved in the Dutroux affair.

Nadège Renard, 28 Maart 2001, Traffic accident: Ex-girlfriend of Jean Pol Taminiau, the Dutroux-linked high society (for Charleroi) brothel owner who was murdered in 1995.

Pierre-Paul "Pepe" De Rycke, 17 Mei 2001, Suicide: Owner of the fascist Jonathan Club who knew Nihoul quite well.

Philippe Deleuze, 15 November 2001, Disease: A friend of Annie Bouty from college. Became a partner in the law firm of Bouty and Nihoul in 1980. Married to Francoise Van Espen (acted as godmother of Nihoul's son), the sister of Jean-Claude Van Espen, the examining magistrate who played a crucial role in (covering up) the murder on Christine Van Hees and the Dutroux/Nihoul/X-witnesses investigations. Jean-Claude Van Espen himself acted as an occasional partner in the firm. Deleuze was a member of CEPIC and a board member of the Tentoonstellingspark (exposition park) foundation, of which Paul Vanden Boeynants was chairman. Vanden Boeynants and Deleuze are said to have been responsible for the appointment of Jean-Claude Van Espen to examining magistrate.

Alain Van der Biest, 17 Maart 2002, Suicide: Several weeks before his suicide he became a main suspect in the 1991 Cools murder.

Madani Bouhouche, 22 November 2005, Accident: Nazi. BOB officer until 1983. Caught spying on his colleagues in 1981 and transferred by major Herman Vernaillen (who soon thereafter survived an assassination attempt). Leading figure in the Practical Shooting Association. Friend and partner-in-crime of such men as Christian Amory, Robert Beijer and Jean Bultot. Implicated in one aspect of a plan to destabilize Belgium. Went to the Jonathan Club of Pepe De Rycke (committed suicide). Convicted criminal and murderer. Used to be in close contact with Front de la Jeunesse, Westland New Post and Group G. In November 2005 he was found dead at his secluded property, a tree had fallen on his head when he tried to bring it down.