One week has passed since high-profile Belgian lawyer Claudia Van Der Stichelen was murdered near her home, but there is still no trail to the perpetrator or the weapon.
The woman was killed in a shooting incident at her home which also served as the office for the law firm Flamée – Van Der Stichelen in the small city of Sint-Lievens-Houtem, south of Ghent, on Saturday 28 October. She was soon identified as lawyer Claudia Van Der Stichelen. A second victim, Van Der Stichelen’s son, was hospitalised with gunshot wounds.
Van Der Stichelen was known for her legal work ten years ago representing a surrogate mother in a high-profile case involving a baby referred to in local media as Baby D, who first made the news ten years ago and for years the subject of a bitter legal battle because her surrogate mother and the Flemish parents who were supposed to raise her.
A week after the cold-blooded murder of lawyer Van Der Stichelen, the culprit has not yet been caught and traces of his identity seem to be few and far between, VRT NWS reported on Saturday.
Lack of footage
On Sunday evening, one day after the shooting, the police had already circulated a search notice with a robotic photograph of the suspect based on the son's statement, showing a man with no special features.
However, one week after the cold-blooded murder, there is still little to no information about who the perpetrator is and what their motive could be.
Flowers at the house of Van Der Stichelen. Credit: Belga/ James Arthur Gekiere
After the culprit shot her dead and wounded her son, the man reportedly fled into a small forest right opposite the law firm, but detectives are not entirely sure about this, as he does not appear on any camera footage either at the time of the events or before or after. After the shooting, he seems to have gone up in smoke.
On Tuesday, the Missing Persons Unit, together with the Civil Protection, combed an adjacent grove, largely in search of the weapon, but it has not yet been found.
The murder is not yet a cold case, as it is hoped that a breakthrough will be made in the near future. Police and courts do have strong suspicions that the facts are linked to a file the lawyer was handling.
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On Thursday 2 November, the village was once again rocked by a shooting. A 33-year-old man of Belarusian nationality was shot in the leg in Bavegem, a borough of Sint-Lievens-Houtem, the East Flanders public prosecutor's office reported.
The motive for the shooting incident is still unclear and is under further investigation, but so far, no link has been established between this latest incident and the murder of Van Der Stichelen.
