The Assize Court of Hainaut will proceed, on Tuesday April 19 in Mons, to the drawing of lots for the jurors who will be responsible for judging, from Friday April 22, Francis Vandy. The former commissioner of the federal police of Charleroi is accused of having murdered two people who were fishing in his pond in Forchies-la-Marche, on August 28, 2019. On August 29, 2019, Maria Ghelmegeanu surrendered to the police in Brussels- West to report the disappearance of her husband Gabriel. The day before, the latter went fishing with his brother, Constantin Tomescu, who had chosen a pond located in Forchies-la-Marche, in Hainaut, not far from his former home.
At the same time, the Trieux police zone was warned by a resident of the suspicious presence, since the day before, of an Opel Zafira. The police find that it is registered in the name of Constantin Tomescu, whose disappearance has just been reported in Brussels.
Excavations are carried out by the police, who discover two lifeless bodies in a grove near the pond. It is indeed the two missing Romanians, one of them being identified by a tattoo. Fishing equipment was found near the pond belonging to a retired police commissioner, Francis Vandy, and his wife.
Constantin Tomescu’s son told investigators that he had gone fishing there with his father a few months earlier, and that two men had chased them away. One was accompanied by a dog and the other was armed. He also fired towards the ground to scare them away. He recognizes Francis Vandy on a photographic panel presented by the investigators.
DNA traces on the shoes
A search is carried out on August 30 at the former policeman’s home where several firearms are discovered. When heard, he denies being involved in this double homicide. However, traces of blood are found on the clothes he was wearing on August 28. The DNA fingerprints of both victims are on his pants and shoes. The former police officer, whose service weapon mysteriously disappeared during retirement, is placed under arrest warrant on October 17, 2019.
Francis Vandy joined the Charleroi judicial police in 1974. In 2000, he reached the rank of divisional commissioner after obtaining a degree in criminology. (Belga)