Partner (46) of victim arrested for murder in Merksem | Antwerp

AntwerpThe police have arrested a suspect in the investigation into the murder of 52-year-old Rudi D. from Merksem. It concerns his 46-year-old friend Joris W. The man will be led before the investigating judge on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday morning 52-year-old Rudi D. was found dead in an apartment on De Vlaspoeldstraat in Merksem. According to the public prosecutor there are indications that he was killed in a violent way. An investigating judge was requested for murder, after which he, together with the lab and the law doctor, went to the scene.

Rudi D. lived with his friend Joris W. They lived withdrawn and had little contact with the local residents. According to neighbors, the police had to intervene regularly for quarrels. “The men regularly got into a fight. We often heard shouting,” says a neighbor. Also Friday night noise could be heard from the apartment. “I left at 7 pm and then we heard screams. After that it was quiet.” The police and ambulance arrived at the scene around 9 a.m. in the morning. “Then I heard a man cry very loudly,” says a neighbor.

Alcohol problem

Neighbors say the couple had a drinking problem. “They passed with bags full of bottles of alcohol. I also saw them regularly fall off their bicycles at night because they had had too much to drink. The municipality has even visited the apartment once to clean the apartment and remove the bottles of liquor.”

The deceased man lived in the top flat in the red-brick house. © CVDP


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