The Namur Assize Court began the trial on Monday of Terry Hoyoux, 26, found guilty by the Liège Assize Court of the murder of Anita Lekeu, burglary, climbing or false key and computer fraud. May 10, 2022. The facts were committed in Wanze on the night of October 24 to 25, 2019.
The judgment of the Liège Assize Court was overturned by the Court of Cassation last October, after an appeal by the public prosecutor, two weeks after the verdict. After the reading of the indictment and the interrogation of the accused, the investigators presented their work on Monday afternoon.
The body of the victim, born in 1950, was discovered on October 26 in her home on rue Delhalle in Wanze. If a neighbor was arrested by the absence of Anita Lekeu’s car in the garage, the door of which had remained open, it was the victim’s son who found her body, on her back, a laundry on his face, in his bedroom. There, the television had disappeared, as had her telephone, her bag, her wallet and her car.
The Meuse Hesbaye police zone quickly descended on the scene of the crime. The victim’s neck showed fifteen stab wounds, but also bruises in the eyes and mouth and traces of strangulation.
The autopsy will reveal stab wounds to the neck. The victim’s death resulted from asphyxiation by strangulation and stab wounds to the neck, which severed the jugular and arteries.
A 10 centimeter knife
On the spot, a stick of licorice, a substance that Terry Hoyoux loved, is found. A relative of the victim will reveal that on the day of the murder, purchases were made with the victim’s bank card in a station in Aische-en-Refail. Terry Hoyoux and his accomplice will appear on the CCTV images of it. Blood spatter will be found on one of the socks, jeans and white jogging, which the accused asked his mother to wash after the fact. This will recognize him on the CCTV images of the service station. She will remember having spoken on the day of the events to her son, who was with Anita Lekeu.
Questioned by the police, the accused initially denied being the author of the murder of his grandmother, despite the presence of his DNA on the murder weapon, a 10 centimeter knife. He admitted having been the author of the burglary, before accusing his accomplice of the murder, and finally admitting the facts, seven months later, during the reconstruction.
The Liège Assize Court imposed a 25-year prison sentence on the accused, while acknowledging that he had mitigating circumstances, namely the absence of a criminal record, his young age, his life and personality. While the legal sentencing range for murder is between 20 and 30 years, recognizing mitigating circumstances brings it down to a range of 15 to 20 years. The judgment of the Liège Assize Court was therefore quashed by the Court of Cassation last October, after an appeal by the public prosecutor, two weeks after the verdict.
Belgian
