All five defendants on trial for cruelly torturing then killing a disabled teenage boy from Liège were found guilty of murder on Thursday.
The verdict was delivered in a public hearing in Liège's Palais de Justice, ahead of the convictions, which are set to be delivered next week.
The five defendants, aged 18 to 23, kidnapped and cruelly tortured 18-year-old Valentin Vermeesch for hours, before throwing him into the La Meuse river while he was still alive but tied-up.
They faced charges of murder, torture, inhuman treatment, rape, indecent assault, beating, death threats and kidnapping of the mentally disabled teen.
While Alexandre Hart, 21, was the only one out of the group who admitted to throwing his victim into the river, Belinda Donnay, 22, Dorian Daniels, 22, Loick Masson, 23, and Killian Wilmet, 18 had admitted to participating in the torture but demanded to be acquitted of murder.
The convictions are set to be delivered on Monday, June 17.
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Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
