The Belgian baroness Myriam Ullens was shot dead by her stepson Nicolas Ullens on Wednesday over a long-standing feud over family inheritance, the Walloon Brabant Public Prosecutor's Office has confirmed.
Local police found the 70-year-old’s lifeless body in her car, which was parked outside of the Ullens’ family home in the municipality of Lasne. Her husband Guy Ullens of Schooten was on the vehicle's passenger side and had to be taken to a nearby hospital after having also injured his leg.
The next morning, just before 11:00, Guy’s son Nicolas turned himself over to the police, with the 57-year-old explaining that he had murdered his stepmother for financial reasons. He explained that he shot the baroness due to an ongoing dispute between her and the baron’s four children from a previous marriage over Guy's personal inheritance.
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Following a discussion between Nicolas and the couple over his father's personal fortune at the family home, he would have waited in his car for his father and stepmother to get into their car. Nicolas Ullens then rammed the couple's car before getting out and firing six shots.
Some residents in Lasne told L’Avenir that they had heard of “a bad relationship” between Myriam and her stepchildren over money. Some even rumoured that of Guy’s four children, “if one of them had to take action, it could only be (Nicolas)” given his unverified work for the State Security Service in the past.
Nicolas Ullens will now appear in front of a Council Chamber on Monday, 3 April, which will set the conditions for his pre-trial detention.
