Did the Romanian brothers deliberately run over Valentin to kill him? Jury deliberates (Opwijk)

“You can see with your naked eyes the sadness of the victim’s mother, which is difficult for me to put into words.” Bujor Puica was given the last word during his trial before the Leuven court of assizes and wanted to apologize to Valentin Popa’s family. “I never wanted to kill him. I’m sorry for everything that happened.”

The whole thing started with the sale of an Audi Q7. Vasile from Opwijk wanted to sell it because he could use some extra pocket money to build his house. Bujor and Stefan Puica quickly showed interest and decided to buy the car. Finally they had their dream car.

READ ALSO. Two Romanian farmers’ sons before the court of assizes for murder due to collision with a car

The brothers paid a total of 7,000 euros, the seller said. “I gave them a discount of 1,000 euros because there was a small problem with the car. It leaked some oil. We got along well then, they were friendly guys.”

But a few days later, Stefan and Bujor were no longer so satisfied with the Q7. They had visited the garage and the repair would cost more than predicted, they said. That is why they returned to Opwijk to ask for their money back. Vasile didn’t want to give that, so the conversation turned into an argument. The brothers left without the Q7. (read more below the photo)

The same evening the Romanian brothers returned to the farm, now with six friends. The discussion from earlier in the evening now escalated into an all-out brawl, with the women and children having to flee into the farmhouse.

The brothers also wanted to flee and got into the Q7, with Bujor at the wheel. But he stopped in the middle of the road and drove backwards, over Valentin. Bujor then accelerated forward again and ran over the victim a second time. Then his brother Stefan took over the wheel and rode over Valentin a third time, who died two weeks later from his injuries.

Jury in deliberation

Did the Puica brothers deliberately kill the victim? And did they do that with premeditation? The jury must consider these questions on Tuesday afternoon. Stefan also wanted to apologize to the family on Tuesday morning for what happened in Opwijk: “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I understand your pain, but I cannot bring him back.” (read more below the photo)

However, Bujor and Stefan always denied that they wanted to kill Valentin. “I didn’t feel anything,” the former said earlier during the trial. “I couldn’t see anything because the windshield was shattered,” younger brother Stefan said.

What doesn’t help Stefan is that camera footage shows that the windshield was not shattered when he hit the victim. One of his comrades – Pavel R. – now also admitted this. He also said that he saw someone lying on the road and shouted to Stefan that there were people on the street. But the latter drove on, over the victim.

READ ALSO. According to lawyers for Romanian brothers, their clients are not guilty of murder: “They did not kill him deliberately”