A Belgian clown broadcast himself live on Facebook during a four-hour armed siege with police before being arrested over the murder of a mother-of-three in front of her children.
But the 31-year-old was reportedly unable to get along with the three teenage children of his 47-year-old girlfriend, named as Caroline Dombrecht in Belgian press, “leading to their break-up a few days ago”, says The Daily Telegraph.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Angered by the break-up, Lapeire allegedly roped in his yodelling stage sidekick, Dietwin Haegeman, to help kill his ex.
Haegeman, 38, is a “lederhosen-clad performer, who, like Lapeire, appeared on the Belgium’s Got Talent contest”, the Telegraph reports.
The pair are alleged to have broken into Dombrecht’s family home in Oudenberg, close to the Belgian seaside town of Ostend, on Sunday night.
Dombrecht “is said to have fallen asleep after being given a drugged cocktail”, according to The Times.
Lapeire reportedly then filmed himself as he took her three children hostage, tied them up and stabbed their mother to death in front of them.
After locking the teenagers in the attic overnight, Lapeire then broadcast himself live on Facebook the following day on top of a 13-storey apartment building in the coastal town of Bredene, “waving a pistol and throwing a gas canister off the roof”, according to Belgian media reports.
Police snipers were sent in and Lapeire eventually surrendered.
The children’s father, named only as Geert DN, told Brussels-based newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws that he could not find the words to describe what had happened. “It is too horrible, especially for my children,” he said. “All my care and attention now goes to them.”
-
Political cartoons for February 15Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include political ventriloquism, Europe in the middle, and more
-
The broken water companies failing England and WalesExplainer With rising bills, deteriorating river health and a lack of investment, regulators face an uphill battle to stabilise the industry
-
A thrilling foodie city in northern JapanThe Week Recommends The food scene here is ‘unspoilt’ and ‘fun’
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
