An elite federal police unit has arrested one of Italy’s most wanted men in Geluwe, a village in Western Flanders. The man, convicted of murder, had been living under a false name for years. He even married a Flemish woman who had no idea about his past, the Mediahuis papers and Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Wednesday.
The lifeless body of Betty Ponce Ramirez Yadira was found beside the river Pô, near the Italian town of Placenza, on the 20th of February 2000. Two months later, police identified the presumed killers, three Albanian men, all on the run. The suspects were convicted of murder by default and sentenced to 23 years in prison on the 23rd of April 2003.
Italian investigators have found one of the young woman’s killers 15 years later. He was living in Belgium. According to the Italian press, he is married with three children. A FAST federal police unit arrested the 37 year old man in Geluwe on Monday.
The suspect fled to Belgium after the murder. He claimed asylum under a false name and became a citizen in 2000.
(Source: Belga)
