Brabant Killers suspect released

Jean-Marie Tinck, the man arrested in May on suspicion of being a member of the notorious Brabant Killers gang, has been released from prison but remains under suspicion, his lawyer said.

According to lawyer Jean-Edmond Mairiaux, the court found no reason for the continued detention of Tinck, who was 68 yesterday. “The evidence against him has not changed since he was arrested,” Mairiaux said. “This is a relief more than anything. The court was convinced most of all by an increase of evidence in his favour, including a polygraph test and DNA evidence, as well as the failure to produce evidence against him.”

Tinck’s detention was prolonged for another month by a court in Charleroi a week ago, but his lawyer appealed and won. Tinck (pictured with Mairiaux) was originally suspected in the 1990s on the basis of drawings of suspects produced on witness testimony. More recently, he is alleged to have boasted to a friend of being part of the Brabant Killers gang. He now denies any involvement.

The Brabant Killers struck terror into the heart of the nation in the 1980s, in a series of raids on supermarkets in which a total of 28 people died, the bloodiest of the attacks being at Delhaize stores in Overijse and Aalst in 1985. No one has ever been convicted of the crimes, as the time limit for prosecutions approaches. 

Photo: Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga