15 years ago today, Belgium was shocked into a mournful silence after the news that a 20-year-old man – Kim De Gelder – had broken into a nursery and stabbed many babies, killing two and a child carer.
On Friday 23 January 2009, parents brought their children to Fabeltjesland daycare in Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde in the province of East Flanders.
That same morning, it was announced on the radio that "a man with a knife caused a massacre" at the nursery.
The young man was described as having had his face painted white and his hair dyed a bright red. He stabbed to death two babies, Corneel and Leon, and 54-year-old child carer Marita Blindeman.
Ten other babies were seriously injured by knife wounds. When the first responders came to the scene of the crime, they described seeing bodies and blood everywhere. The testimonies of carers who were there all said that the man stabbed anything that moved.
The man was identified as Kim De Gelder.
Neighbourhood manhunt
After attacking the nursery he fled on his bicycle. With a perpetrator on the loose, a large manhunt was launched in the neighbourhood, and schools were closed to prevent another attack.
An hour later, about 15 kilometres away, De Gelder was spotted by a neighbourhood police officer, who held him at gunpoint and called for reinforcements.
During the search, the officers noticed that he was wearing a bulletproof vest under his clothes. Police also found the addresses of two more nurseries, another set of knives, an axe and a fake gun.
Belgian newspapers with a picture of Kim De Gelder on their front page after the attack. Credit: Belga / Kristof Van Accom
That same evening, De Gelder was subjected to his first interrogation, but he refused to speak, move and even eat or drink.
It wasn't until five weeks later that De Gelder confessed for the first time about his involvement in the stabbing.
At this point, he also confessed to killing 72-year-old Elza Van Raemdonck in her home in Vrasene a few days before the stabbing in Fabeltjesland.
No return to society
The trial started four years later and lasted four and a half weeks. At the heart of the trial was the question of whether De Gelder could be held accountable for his actions.
A family member of one of the victims shows a banner with a picture of the accused saying 'moordenaar, nooit meer vrij!' (murderer, never liberated!). Credit: Belga / Bruno Fahy
The jury believed he could, adding that he was not in a serious state of mental disorder at the time of the offences. On 22 March 2013, Ghent's Assize court sentenced De Gelder to life in prison for four murders and 25 attempted murders.
However, since the the beginning of the trial, Jaak Haentjens, De Gelder's lawyer, had argued for internment because De Gelder was schizophrenic. A psychiatrist examined him and ruled that he needed specialised help, which he would not receive in prison.
De Gelder's mental state deteriorated after he stopped his medication, and he started attacking jailers, writing on his body and forehead, and uttering gibberish.
The court subsequently ruled that internment would be better for him. He was eventually moved to the Forensic Psychiatric Centre (FPC) in Antwerp in 2022. Even if his treatment yields results, he would still have to go back to prison to serve the rest of his life sentence.
Kim De Gelder pictured during the 21st day of the assizes trial, at the Ghent Justice Palace, 22 March 2013. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
But his lawyer has said there has been little improvement, noting that he is still apathetic, not constructive and disconnected to the world. "He still behaves just as he did then."
The attack left people across the country – particularly parents – shocked and speechless. The Monday after the tragedy, many parents refused to bring their babies to the nursery, worried that evil would strike again.
15 years later, this day is still considered one of the darkest in Belgian history books.
At 22:00 on Tuesday 23 January 2024, victims who survived De Gelder's merciless attack will testify for the first time in the VTM News documentary 'Life after Kim De Gelder'.
