Today marks a year since the death of Carmel Delaney, whose senseless killing sent shockwaves through the international community in Brussels.
On 17 March 2025, Carmel, 61, was found stabbed to death in her apartment on Avenue Roger Vandendriessche in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. Her body was discovered by her husband Chris, a senior executive at US tyre company Goodyear.
The murder came as a shock to residents of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, an affluent and low-crime neighbourhood in the east of Brussels. Police initially suspected it was a burglary gone wrong. Three luxury watches were stolen from the property, which did not show signs of forced entry.
In April, Greet V., Chris’s personal secretary, was arrested and charged with murder and possession of a weapon by destination. Unconfirmed reports in the Belgian press suggest the suspect, who is said to be in her fifties, had been engaged in an extra-marital affair with Chris, who has since retired from his role at Goodyear.
Last month, the Brussels Chamber of Indictments once again extended Greet V.’s pre-trial provisional detention. In Belgium, pre-trial detention may be extended for up to a year for serious crimes. While early hearings took place in front of a French-speaking judge, subsequent legal proceedings have been conducted in Flemish.
‘She was a little gold nugget, and now she’s gone’
Born in New York in July 1962, Carmel Delaney (née O’Sullivan), held dual Irish-American citizenship and was a mother-of-four with two young grandchildren.
Carmel studied at Cornell University, graduating in 1985. She met her husband while they were working together at consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble.
The couple subsequently moved abroad, living in Australia, Poland, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia before moving to Belgium in 2017. During that time, Carmel set up her own consulting business, International Educational Resources, advising international students applying to US educational institutions.
She took pride in her role as a facilitator of education, successfully guiding students into top universities, including Yale, Columbia, and Oxford.
Following her death, tributes to Carmel poured in from all over the world, reflecting the impact she made on people's lives. She spent the last seven years of her life in Brussels, building a large network of friends. Here, she was an active member of the Brussels Women’s Club, running the group’s website and organising events.
In an online tribute following her death, the group said: “Her life motto, ‘bloom where you are planted,’ embodied her ability to adapt, grow and thrive wherever life took her.”
A member of the group told the Wall Street Journal she had “cried every day” since her friend's death. “She was a little gold nugget, and now she’s gone,” the woman said.
