Home » News » The former mayor of Aalst was killed by her companion, already known for domestic violence

The former mayor of Aalst was killed by her companion, already known for domestic violence

She was a woman bursting with life, with her outspokenness. She was a political representative who enjoyed real popularity in her town of Aalst.

It was because Ilse Uyttersprot (CD&V), who was mayor of Aalst from 2007 to 2012 and federal parliamentarian from 2007 to 2010, was murdered on the night of Monday to Tuesday.

The prosecution of East Flanders remains stingy with comments on this file. But it is clear that Ilse Uyttersprot, who was 53, was the victim of femicide, killed by a man with whom she had – or had had – a romantic relationship.

Ilse Uytterspot and Jurgen D. had been together for three months. On Monday evening, they returned to Aalst in the man’s apartment, located in the Meuleschettestraat in Aalst.

At around 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Jurgen D. surrendered to the local police, reporting that he had killed the former mayor of Aalst. Police discovered the lifeless body of Ilse Uyttersprot.

The facts are registered, said in the day Annelies Verstraeten, spokesperson for the prosecution of East Flanders, in the relational sphere. The motive is therefore not to be sought in the political action of Ms. Uyttersprot.

Known and condemned

The prosecution did not say how Ms Uyttersprot died, indicating that an autopsy would be performed on the body on Wednesday to determine the cause of death.

It seems that she was killed with a hammer. The prosecution does not confirm.

Jurgen D., 49, was a real estate agent. He also ran a small advertising agency. He was already known to the courts in a case of domestic violence, which is very often the case in cases of femicide.

Jurgen D. was thus sentenced in 2014 to six months in prison suspended for assault and battery as well as for harassment towards a former companion.

The federal judicial police heard at length Jurgen D. His questioning ended Tuesday around 6 pm. He will be presented – for assassination, the prosecution has already indicated – to an investigating judge in Dendermonde on Wednesday at 1 p.m. It will be up to the judge to retain the charges and a (probable) arrest warrant.

Very popular in Aalst

Licentiate in law, lawyer, Ilse Uyttersprot was the daughter of Raymond Uyttersprot, who was mayor of Aalst from 1983 to March 1987. He died of cancer at the age of 51. Her daughter was then 20 years old.

It was a shock for the latter: she said that he had never recovered from the killing at Delhaize in Aalst. Bourgmestre, he went immediately to the scene and was confronted with eight dead and nine seriously injured.

Ilse Uyttersprot will herself become mayor of Aalst in 2007. She will lose the October 2012 elections. The mayorate will then return in January 2013 to Christoph D’Haese (N-VA).

Christoph D’Haese remained mayor in 2019 with the CD&V in the majority. Ilse Uyttersprot was alderman for Sport, Culture and Youth. But relations quickly turned sour, crystallizing on the multi-year budget.

Since the end of 2019, the mayor had withdrawn his powers. She remained aldermen nonetheless. Combative, Ilse Uyttersprot challenged his ouster before the Council of State which had not yet pronounced.

Ilse Uyttersprot had known in 2011 a notoriety which she would have gladly done without. A 2007 video, filmed from afar without his knowledge, then toured the Internet. We saw her in love affairs with her companion on top of a tower in Spain.

She knew for sure that these images would pursue her all her career. But she had assumed: “So what ?” she said. And she had known how to laugh, disguising herself in tour for the 2012 edition of the Aalst carnival.

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