24-10-2017, 08:16 PM
From The Guardian:
[FONT=&]A murder mystery that has gripped Belgium for 30 years may be on the verge of being solved after a former policeman apparently confessed on his deathbed to being one of the "Crazy Brabant Killers" a gang that killed 28 people and left a further 40 injured in a string of robberies in the early 1980s.
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[FONT=&]During a three-year spree, the Brabant Killers staged more than a dozen raids on supermarkets, hostels and a gunsmiths, during which they shot customers, staff and even children. They suddenly ceased their activities and disappeared in 1985.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The killers' proficiency in handling weapons raised suspicions at the time that there was a link with the gendarmerie, a former paramilitary police force of Belgium. Theories circulated that the group was part of an attempt by the far left or right to undermine the state, something that the Belgian government confirmed on Tuesday remained "a possibility".[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The Brabant gang, who were French speaking, and would taunt and roar at their victims, terrorised Belgian society. They have retained a hold on the public imagination since their sudden unexplained disappearance.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The group usually comprising three disguised men, wearing face paint, known as "the Giant", "the Killer" and a getaway driver, "the Old Man" would at times take just petty cash and low-value goods, yet be content to shoot anyone in their way.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Various leads have emerged since the gang disappeared, but there have never been any prosecutions. Officials confirmed, however, that the brother of a retired policeman in Aalst, near Brussels, came forward earlier this year to claim that his dying sibling had confessed two years ago to being the Giant, the suspected ringleader.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"In the beginning I was in denial because I really struggled with it," the unnamed man told the Belgian broadcaster VTM. "But today I can say formally that this is my brother."
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Also:
BBC: 'Crazy Brabant Killers': Brussels murder mystery 'clue'
Le Monde: En Belgique, l'affaire des « tueurs du Brabant » rebondit et s'oriente vers l'extrême droite
[FONT=&]A murder mystery that has gripped Belgium for 30 years may be on the verge of being solved after a former policeman apparently confessed on his deathbed to being one of the "Crazy Brabant Killers" a gang that killed 28 people and left a further 40 injured in a string of robberies in the early 1980s.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]During a three-year spree, the Brabant Killers staged more than a dozen raids on supermarkets, hostels and a gunsmiths, during which they shot customers, staff and even children. They suddenly ceased their activities and disappeared in 1985.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The killers' proficiency in handling weapons raised suspicions at the time that there was a link with the gendarmerie, a former paramilitary police force of Belgium. Theories circulated that the group was part of an attempt by the far left or right to undermine the state, something that the Belgian government confirmed on Tuesday remained "a possibility".[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The Brabant gang, who were French speaking, and would taunt and roar at their victims, terrorised Belgian society. They have retained a hold on the public imagination since their sudden unexplained disappearance.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The group usually comprising three disguised men, wearing face paint, known as "the Giant", "the Killer" and a getaway driver, "the Old Man" would at times take just petty cash and low-value goods, yet be content to shoot anyone in their way.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Various leads have emerged since the gang disappeared, but there have never been any prosecutions. Officials confirmed, however, that the brother of a retired policeman in Aalst, near Brussels, came forward earlier this year to claim that his dying sibling had confessed two years ago to being the Giant, the suspected ringleader.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"In the beginning I was in denial because I really struggled with it," the unnamed man told the Belgian broadcaster VTM. "But today I can say formally that this is my brother."
[/FONT]
Also:
BBC: 'Crazy Brabant Killers': Brussels murder mystery 'clue'
Le Monde: En Belgique, l'affaire des « tueurs du Brabant » rebondit et s'oriente vers l'extrême droite