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Former mayor of Linkebeek begins appeal of murder conviction

17:36 04/01/2021

A Brussels court began hearing arguments today in the appeal of murder convictions handed down to former politician Christian Van Eyken and his wife, Sylvia Boigelot. The pair were convicted last year of the 2014 murder of Boigelot’s former husband, Marc Dellea.

Dellea died from a bullet to the head in his Laken apartment in July 2014. An investigation turned up evidence that his then wife, Boigelot, and the man with whom she was having an affair, Van Eyken, were responsible. Boigelot was Van Eyken’s assistant in the Flemish parliament at the time.

Van Eyken served as the mayor of Linkebeek from 1993 to 2006. At the time of the murder, he was the only French-speaking member of the Flemish parliament, a situation made possible because of the language facilities in the Brussels periphery. He continued to represent the Union des Francophones (UF) in the Flemish parliament for several years as his case was pending, only stepping out during the 2019 elections.

The pair have always maintained that they are innocent of any involvement with Dellea’s murder. Security footage, however, show the pair – and only the pair – entering and exiting the victim’s apartment at the time of death. The court also confirmed that both of them lied during the investigation.

They were found guilty and each sentenced to 23 years in prison for what the court called an “ice cold deed” and “cowardly execution” of the victim. “They will use the same energy in trying to escape their punishment that they expended in trying to prove their innocence,” said the advocate general last year in response to the announcement that they would appeal their sentences.

Photo: The couple and one of their lawyers last year on the day of their conviction
©James Arthur Gekiere/BELGA

Written by Lisa Bradshaw