justice
The council chamber in Turnhout has decided to intern Gunter U., the man who killed Miss Mieke from Noorderwijk with 101 stab wounds in 2020. This was done on the basis of the classification of murder and not manslaughter.
The panel of experts previously ruled that the man was unreasonable. Both U.’s defense and the surviving relatives do not oppose internment. There was only some discussion on the basis of which charge the perpetrator would be interned: for manslaughter or for murder. The council chamber decided on Friday to intern the man for murder.
The defense is satisfied with this decision. “The chairman of the council chamber has ruled that you killed Miss Mieke with premeditation and not on an impulse,” says Master Kristel Jansens, the lawyer for Mieke Verlinden’s relatives. “This qualification was very important for us.”
Several family members and surviving relatives of the murdered Mieke Verlinden were present on Friday morning to listen to the decision of the council chamber. Widower Michel Peeters was not present. Gunter U. himself did not wish to be transferred from prison to the courthouse in Turnhout.
U.’s defense can still appeal against the decision of the chamber.
59-year-old school teacher Maria ‘Mieke’ Verlinden was found dead in her home in Noorderwijk (Herentals) on November 10, 2020, with no fewer than 101 stab wounds. Gunter U., a former student of Miss Mieke, was arrested only a year and a half later. He had pangs of conscience after an emotional appeal from Miss Mieke’s husband. His DNA also turned out to match that of the blood traces.
