Murder suspect Sandra H. (45) has admitted after a year and a half that she is solely responsible for the death of 29-year-old Ichelle van de Velde from Oostburg in Zeeland. The Belgian thus returns after a year and a half to an earlier statement, in which she said she had acted ‘on behalf’.
During the fifth preparatory session in the Middelburg court on Wednesday, it appeared that H. had again stated about her involvement in the death of Ichelle. She made her ‘confessional statement’ to the examining magistrate last Thursday.
The Public Prosecution Service wants to investigate the reliability of H’s latest statement. Although H. has already undergone a personality test, her lawyer wants her to be “additionally” examined again.
H. has been in prison since February 9, 2021 last year, because the Public Prosecution Service – as the only one – suspects her of murdering the Oostburg woman. The Public Prosecution Service assumes that she last saw Ichelle alive in December 2020 and is also responsible for making her body disappear.
acquaintances of each other
H. and Ichelle were acquaintances. Both had a shop in the Burgemeester Erasmusstraat in Oostburg, where H. owned Het Spiritualuele Huisje Lotus and Ichelle had a sewing workshop two buildings away. Police investigation revealed that Ichelle and H.’s partner had feelings for each other. There may have been a motive in that. Until her arrest, H. lived with her family in Aardenburg.
Almost a year ago, during the first preliminary hearing in court, lawyer Pieter van de Kerkhof said that H. is a ‘denying suspect’, but that she admits to having dumped part of Ichelle’s body. That explained the traces of Ichelle’s blood found in the kitchen of H’s shop and the blood residue on a shaft of H’s boot.
Tools
At the time, H. admitted through her lawyer that she had bought tools with which Ichelle’s body was sawed into pieces. According to H. she had been ‘frauded’ and had ‘acted on behalf’. She has adapted that story, it turned out in the Middelburg court on Wednesday. The hearing was attended by Ichelle’s parents. Ysanne Bennebroek, mother of the stabbed Tim van der Steen from Middelburg, and her partner Joyce were also present to support the van Ichelle family.
The court will allocate two days for the substantive hearing. H. has so far ignored all lawsuits, but with an order to be brought in, the judge has obliged the Belgian to be present when the case is being treated substantively. According to lawyer Pieter van de Kerkhof, H. will then explain in detail what exactly happened.
Watch our news videos in the playlist below:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.