The Brussels Indictment Chamber has ordered Nicolas Ullens de Schooten to stand trial for the murder of his stepmother, and has upheld his detention under electronic monitoring.
The trial will be scheduled by the Walloon Brabant Assize Court.
Ullens de Schooten stands accused of shooting and killing Baroness Myriam Ullens, wife of his father, Baron Guy Ullens de Schooten, on 29 March 2023.
The incident occurred outside the couple’s villa in Ohain, Walloon Brabant.
On that morning, Ullens de Schooten reportedly waited for his father and stepmother to leave the property by car. He then fired six shots at his stepmother using a semi-automatic pistol.
Immediately after the shooting, Ullens de Schooten turned himself in to the police and was placed under arrest. Since October, he has been allowed to serve his pre-trial detention under electronic surveillance.
Following the incident, prosecutors said the suspect attributed his actions to a family dispute, which included financial disagreements.
However, defence lawyers Dimitri de Béco and Jean-Philippe Mayence refuted this characterisation. They argued that the motive was more complex and rooted in deeper human emotions, and promised to address this fully during the trial.
