Man says his late brother was leader of Brabant Killers
A man from Dendermonde says that his brother, who died two years ago, was “the giant” – one of the leaders of the notorious Brabant Killers, responsible for 28 shooting deaths in the 1980s
Reign of terror
A Dendermonde man told VTM News late last week that his brother was one of the three who have long been designated as the leaders of the gang. The man, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that his brother told him just before he died two years ago that he had been a member of the gang.
The man further identified his late brother as “the giant”, a nickname given to one of the three leaders of the gang. The other two leaders are known as “the killer” and “the driver”.
Although new evidence comes to light every few years, none of the gang – known in Dutch as the Bende van Nijvel – have ever been positively identified by authorities. In 2015, parliament voted in favour of extending the statue of limitations on the case, which was to end that year. Any suspects can now still be convicted until 2025.
The late brother of the witness from Dendermonde was a former member of the police, which was at that time known as the Rijkswacht, a paramilitary police force. The Rijkswacht became a civilian police force in 1992 and lost its status completely in 2001, replaced by the federal and local police structure in place today.
It has long been one of the theories that the leaders of the Brabant Killers were members of the Rijkswacht.
Christian De Valkeneer, prosecutor-general of Liège and head of the Brabant Killers investigative team said that, while the new information appeared to be credible, “we must be careful. The man in question is dead, and the file on him is closed. We are now focusing on other elements of the case”.
Photo: An archive photo of the aftermath of one of the Brabant Killers attacks and a police sketch of “the giant”, who a Dendermonde man says was his brothe
