Back to square one in lawyer’s murder case: suspects easily maintained their innocence and even the murder weapon has not yet been found (Sint-Lievens-Houtem)

After two weeks of searching for the murderer of lawyer Claudia Van der Stichelen (58), the investigators can go back to the drawing board. The two suspects appear to have nothing to do with her violent death.

A type of pigeon fancier, probably in his sixties, dressed in gray overalls. Someone who quickly fled after the incident with his weapon in hand. That’s the profile of the fugitive gunman who shot lawyer, administrator and deputy judge Claudia Van der Stichelen at close range on October 28. The murder happened at her villa in Sint-Lievens-Houtem in East Flanders.

Wanted: a suspect

In recent weeks, investigators have been plowing through her files in the hope of identifying someone who wanted to do her harm. That’s how they ended up with EDC, a 65-year-old man who was under her rule and cursed her on social media. The man seemed to have a motive.

His brother-in-law LVB also came into the sights of the Ghent investigators, because he called his brother-in-law remarkably often just after the murder. And because he allegedly had a weapon, a link did not seem illogical in the eyes of the court.

Both were questioned for hours, but were not charged last Friday. They easily maintained their innocence. Judicial sources have previously indicated restraint. They were allowed to go home as free men. What means that a breakthrough is not forthcoming and other hypotheses have to be investigated. The murder weapon also remains untraceable for the time being.