Elderly murder: ex of suspect sometimes saw him beat his mother
Frank P. was arrested in 2019. After her death, he took a monthly pension from his mother for several years. Jessica V.: “I’ve seen him hit. Then we went to the hospital with her. We said she fell on the court.”
In 2005, Jessica V. and Frank Pauwels broke up. “But it was not that simple. I had problems with him for two or three years. He even threatened me with a knife. And he also once came off with skinheads.” For more than ten years their daughter continued to live with the accused. Only after the facts did she return to her mother, because, according to herself, she was also beaten and threatened. In the summer of 2019, the girl attempted suicide on the day she was to be questioned about burying the victim. The next day P. called his ex-partner from prison. “He said he was going to take everything on him. I don’t know what he meant by that then. He said she was with everything.” The now 18-year-old daughter only admitted at the hearing on Monday that she was indeed walking towards the dunes. “To this day she won’t say anything about it. I’m still trying, but she doesn’t say anything about Grandma.”
bit confused
The neighbors in the Nukkerstraat in Bredene stated that Hennaert never actually went out for the last two years of her life. “I saw her behind the window in her room,” said Hector V. (88). “She started to be a little confused. She couldn’t find the way back in once.” His wife Marie-Rose B. (84) confirmed this image. “She looked a little sad, uncared for, a little confused.” Hector V.’s 95-year-old sister also lived in the same building and recalled an incident involving the accused. “I was watching TV and I heard a terrible blow. He had fallen down the stairs. He was lying there with the beer cans around him,” said Amanda V. .
According to the family doctor, there was no acute drinking problem. “I’ve usually seen him for common complaints, such as colds and sometimes stress-related complaints. I can’t remember him talking about problems with his mother.”
However, several people had advised P. to seek help. For example, neighbor Jacqueline N. suggested an admission to a rest home. “He said she was a bit of a nuisance and that she smeared her need on the wall. I never saw and never knew his mom, but he said he had a lot of work with her.” Several witnesses also stated that the accused regularly had problems with his adolescent daughter.
Marie-Rose, the victim’s niece, described Solange as a lovely woman. “A bit naive too. She tried to do the best she could for everyone. And then things apparently go wrong.” The testimony showed that the victim had hardly had any contact with her family for a long time. “I only knew Frank as a little boy. Aunt hadn’t eaten much from upbringing. She loved to see him and she couldn’t refuse him anything.” At the time, the accused sat mainly silently observing the rest of the family. “Sometimes he was a hot temper. He could smash things and hurt animals.”