Nicolas Ullens was envious and felt humiliated by his mother-in-law, Baroness Myriam Ullens. The motive for his mother-in-law’s murder was initially thought to be a financial problem, but for Nicolas, it ran much deeper. He was unhappy that Myriam’s biological children, Virginie and Gilles, were taking a significant portion of the family fund, including Baron Ullens’ various properties worldwide. Nicolas was also jealous of the lifestyle enjoyed by his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, who had seven children and frequently stayed at the family villa in Saint-Tropez and a luxurious sailboat named Dragon Rouge.
In addition to being envious, Nicolas had always felt neglected and even unwanted since Myriam came into their lives. He believed that his father was treating him and his three other children as second-class because of Myriam’s actions. However, according to Paris Match, Guy Ullens de Schooten had not abandoned his four children and gave them 50,000 euros per month and per child.
On the day of the murder, Nicolas stormed into his father’s office, demanding an explanation regarding the sale of the magnificent villa of Ohain. His father asked him to leave the house, which made Nicolas angry. Later, when he encountered his mother-in-law, she offered her cheek as a greeting, and Nicolas kissed her, which was later called the “kiss of Judas.” Nicolas waited until the gate reopened and crashed his vehicle into the Volkswagen Golf in which his stepmother and father were in. Nicolas then fired six shots, one at the Golf’s windshield and five more at the Baroness, who was left for dead.
Nicolas Ullens did not hide it. He was deeply jealous of his “evil mother-in-law”, Baroness Myriam Ullens. To the investigators, the son of Baron Guy Ullens de Schooten thus declared to have been humiliated for years. The Walloon Brabant prosecutor’s office quickly qualified the motive for the murder of his mother-in-law as a financial problem. But for the alleged murderer, the evil was much deeper.
In statements made to investigators during his interrogations, echoed by our colleagues from Het Laatste Nieuws, Nicolas Ullens explains that he does not understand why Virginie and Gilles, the biological children of Myriam Lechien from her first marriage, used a little too much for his taste in the family fund. According to him, they were taking too big a share of “their pie” which notably includes the many properties of Baron Ullens in the four corners of the world.
“Why did Gilles have the duplex in Rome? Why did the hunting lodge in South Africa suddenly return to Virginie’s husband?” he lamented to those around him. He was deeply jealous of his brother-in-law and his sister-in-law. her husband and their seven children were having a little too much fun at the family villa in Saint-Tropez and on the Dragon Rouge, a luxurious 52-meter-long sailboat.
He felt unwanted
For years he had felt neglected, ignored, misunderstood and even unwanted. He explained to investigators that he had a very close relationship with his father before Myriam came into their lives. According to him, his father treated him and his three other children as second-class children because of Myriam’s actions. “I suffered a lot from it,” he said during his interrogation. In his confessions, Nicolas Ullens thus transforms, posthumously, his victim, his “evil mother-in-law”.
According to Paris Match, Guy Ullens de Schooten had clearly not abandoned his four children. According to the magazine, he gave them 50,000 euros per month and per child. Not enough for his son. “His children have everything, and I only have €50,000 a month,” lamented Nicolas Ullens.
The Kiss of Judas
Paris Match reconstructed the murder of Baroness Ullens in its latest issue. That morning, around 10 a.m., Nicolas stormed into his father’s office in Lasne. He had heard that the magnificent villa of Ohain was going to be sold and immediately saw it as a new trick from his mother-in-law. He demanded an explanation from his father. Angry, the latter then asked him to leave the house, especially since he and his wife had to go to a very urgent meeting.
Relatives of the family explained to Paris Match that Nicolas Ullens met his mother-in-law on leaving. “She politely offered him her cheek and he kissed her. The kiss of Judas!” Mimi Ullens had been suspicious of her stepson for years. In 2010, Nicolas Ullens and the three other children of the baron had also taken action against their own father, which he could never forget. The accounts had even been blocked for a time, until the court dismissed the children’s complaints two years later.
On the morning of the tragedy, Nicolas Ullens therefore left empty-handed. Determined to take revenge, he waited until the gate reopened a little later to crash with his own car into the Volkswagen Golf in which his stepmother and father were. He then got out of his vehicle and fired a first shot at the Golf’s windshield before firing five more shots at the Baroness, left for dead with her shocked father by her side.
The tragic story of Baroness Myriam Ullens and her son-in-law Nicolas Ullens reminds us of the destructive power of jealousy and greed. While the Walloon Brabant prosecutor’s office has qualified the motive for the murder as a financial problem, the alleged murderer’s jealousy of his brother-in-law and sister-in-law seems to run much deeper. Nicolas Ullens felt unwanted and neglected, and his resentment towards his “evil mother-in-law” led to a vicious act of violence that shocked the world. Let this be a cautionary tale about the dangers of envy and the importance of family love and unity. Our hearts go out to the Ullens family in their time of grief.