An Antwerp jury has found beauty therapist Kathleen Hoeckx (49) guilty of manslaughter in the death of private banker Didier Van den Nieuwenhuysen (58) after 2.5 hours of deliberation.
Van den Nieuwenhuysen was killed on 3 September 2021 in Hoeckx’s beauty salon on Stenenbrug in Borgerhout. Hoeckx and Van den Nieuwenhuysen were the only persons present. Although the accused claimed that she remembered nothing, she did not contest the charges.
“Medical examiners unanimously agree that the victim died from sustained asphyxiation. It is beyond reasonable doubt that the accused intentionally killed him,” jury president Dirk Thys said.
Investigations revealed that Hoeckx and Van den Nieuwenhuysen had met at a red light in Berchem that day. Attracted by the victim’s BMW Z4 convertible, Hoeckx struck up a conversation. They drove to the salon together and entered it at 11:24 a.m.. What happened after that remains unclear.
Hoeckx called the police at 5:55 p.m. Before making the call, she left the salon twice, driving the victim’s BMW to Aldi to buy sangria and to Burger King for a hamburger. She also visited her ex-partner’s mother, falsely claiming that she had killed a man who tried to rape her.
The jury found that Van den Nieuwenhuysen was not at fault. “The victim’s behaviour was not causally linked to Hoeckx’s actions,” they said. “No evidence of sexual contact was found, and there was no indication she needed to defend herself.”
The jury did not believe the accused’s claims of memory loss, which could not be medically assessed and appeared feigned.
Hoeckx was found guilty of manslaughter and faces a potential maximum penalty of thirty years in prison. Her sentencing will be determined on Tuesday.
