The suspect was arrested in August of last year in the Italian capital Rome (theme image). — © Shutterstock
In a murder investigation from 1999, the council chamber in Antwerp confirmed the arrest of a 51-year-old man on Monday.
On the night of May 16, 1999, the body of a 17-year-old Romanian woman was found near Dries in Antwerp. She had been killed violently. “The medical examiner counted about twenty cuts and stab wounds,” the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office reports in a press release. “The investigation revealed that the victim had been seen with her suspected pimp in a nearby café shortly before the incident and witnesses had seen a man running away from the incident. That man stayed in our country with a false identity. After the facts he fled abroad.”
Despite the extensive murder investigation conducted at the time, the suspect could not be located. The file has thus become a cold case.
DNA profile
After consultation between the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office and the federal judicial police (FGP) Antwerp, the file was re-analyzed. After that review, it was decided to request the investigating judge again. “In 2020, he then asked the forensic advisor of the National Institute for Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC) to reexamine the DNA part of the file with a scientific lens. Evolution in science allowed a single DNA profile of a man to be discovered on a glove left at the scene.”
In the search for the possible suspect, the police cooperated with the Albanian authorities and Interpol. “The possible suspect is said to have left Albania in 1993 and arrived in Italy in 2002,” the press release said. “He had again used a false identity for this. In Italy he was checked several times by the police. Based on all new elements, the investigating judge issued a European arrest warrant and the man was notified. Thanks to international cooperation, the man could be located.”
Rome
On August 21, 2023, the man was arrested in Rome. After the surrender procedure, he was flown to our country on April 5. The investigating judge in Antwerp arrested him the next day for murder. A comparative DNA test that has since been carried out has revealed a positive match. The man appeared before the council chamber for a second time on Monday. His detention has been extended.
The victim’s family has now been informed of the new developments.
Tags: Arrest cold case man suspected murdering #17yearold woman Antwerp
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