Annie De Poortere’s husband has been definitively acquitted of charges related to her death in 1994, as no appeal was lodged against the decision by the Ghent indictment chamber which declared the statute of limitations had expired, according to sources from both the public prosecutor and the deceased’s sister’s lawyer.
Annie De Poortere disappeared in November 1994 in Sint-Martens-Latem. On 27 April 2024, human remains were discovered during construction work near where she lived. Her former husband, now in his eighties, was subsequently arrested and questioned. Family members learned that the septuagenarian had confessed to burying the body after claiming that De Poortere had taken her own life, but he denied any involvement in her death.
The man was initially detained on charges of murder and placed under electronic monitoring but was released by the investigating judge at the end of May 2024, maintaining the murder charge. The prosecution had announced that experts were striving to complete the investigation swiftly. Due to legislative changes extending the statute of limitations for crimes warranting life sentences from 20 to 30 years, the statute might have been circumvented if he was prosecuted for murder.
The public prosecutor asked the advisory chamber to declare the charges related to De Poortere’s death as expired. The prosecution concluded there was no evidence of premeditation, suggesting only a charge of manslaughter was applicable, which would have been statute-barred since 12 November 2014. Consequently, the advisory chamber ruled at the end of December that the manslaughter charges were time-barred.
However, the husband was still facing charges of forgery for initiating civil proceedings to have his wife declared absent while knowing she was deceased, which could have resulted in a prison sentence of five to ten years. A few weeks ago, the Ghent indictment chamber also declared this charge prescribed.
Neither the public prosecutor nor De Poortere’s sister appealed the decision, making the indictment chamber’s ruling final.
Stephen Schellinck, representing the sister alongside Jef Vermassen, confirmed that no appeal to the Court of Cassation would be filed. “This step would only have assessed procedural compliance, and we found no irregularities in the indictment chamber’s reasoning. It remains emotionally and personally difficult for our client. She hoped the man would still be punished for his actions but now must accept that law and justice don’t coincide in this case. 30 years later, she knows where her sister is, but the case will remain unresolved. Society must perhaps question whether a statute of limitations is still appropriate for such serious offences.”
