Trio Wore Masks and Face Paint — Then Opened Fire in Grocery Stores, Killing 28 People, Including Children

need to know

• Between 1982 and 1985, a masked trio known as the “Brabant Killers” attacked Belgian grocery stores and other businesses, killing 28 people

• Survivors include David Vandersteen, who lost his parents and sister, and Genevieve Van Lit, who later said she recognized one of her attackers

• Investigators reviewed thousands of tips over decades and closed the case in 2024 without identifying those responsible

Between 1982 and 1985, a masked trio known as the “Brabant Killers” carried out a wave of supermarket massacres in the Brabant region of Belgium, killing 28 people, including family members and young children.

The men, who used face paint during the raids, were nicknamed “giants”, “killers” and “old men” by investigators and the media, the BBC reported. Their identities have never been confirmed.

The media reported that the attacks were mainly divided into two waves, targeting supermarkets, hotels, a gun shop, a bar and a restaurant. Some of the victims were tortured before being killed, the outlet reported.

According to the BBC, on November 9, 1985, a grocery store in Delhaize, Ulster, was attacked, killing eight people.

The brothers, aged 7 and 10 at the time, later said they saw six men in dark clothing fleeing the scene, with the boys writing car registration numbers in notebooks as part of a childhood hobby. The notebook was included in the case file, but the lead was not pursued for decades and the brothers were never questioned, CBS News reported, citing AFP.

David Van de Steen, one of the survivors of the Ulster Raid, was seriously injured when he was nine years old and lost his parents and sister. He later said his sister yelled: “Don’t shoot, that’s my dad!” before their father was reportedly killed communiqué.

Another victim, Geneviève Van Lidth, was one of the few who saw the attacker without a mask. In 1983, she was held at gunpoint outside her home in Plansnoy, Walloon-Brabant, and her car stolen.

She later described the man as appearing to be of southern European descent, with short dark hair and “impeccable” French, which made him appear well-educated, and said the Peugeot 504 that followed her car was later linked to the Delhaize attack in Gvar. brussels times“Her account summary.

“I always said he had a northern French accent, not a Belgian,” she said, according to the outlet, adding that when she saw a photo years later she was “99 percent sure” she recognized her attacker.

The Guardian Investigators have looked into whether the attacks were an attempt by current or former law enforcement officials with ties to the far right to destabilize Belgium, the report said. The outlet, citing the AFP report, also pointed to a long-circulated theory that the giant could be a former member of the Gendarmerie, Belgium’s national police force.

In 2019, a retired police officer was reportedly charged for allegedly dumping weapons and ammunition in a canal in connection with the 1986 case, but he was never convicted The Guardian.

2017, The Guardian The brother of former Belgian policeman Christian Bonkowski admitted two years ago that he was a “giant”. Patricia Finne, whose father was one of the 28 people killed, told the media the revelation was “the first serious disclosure in 30 years”.

“I really hope this breaks down the rest of the gang, whether they’re dead or not,” she told the outlet.

The total amount stolen during the robbery is estimated to be approximately €175,000, The Guardian the report said.

Prosecutors told the families of the victims that investigators had examined 1,815 pieces of information, examined 2,748 sets of fingerprints, compared 593 DNA samples and exhumed more than 40 bodies, but had not identified the killer, the outlet reported. No one has been convicted in the case.

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In 2020, police released a photo of an unidentified man standing in the woods near a lake holding a shotgun. Investigators called it a “vital clue” in the case and appealed for help identifying him, the BBC reported. The Guardian Report.

In June 2024, despite Bonkovsky’s admission in 2017 that he was a “giant,” the Belgian federal prosecutor announced that after more than four decades of investigation, the case was about to be closed. The Guardian the report said. Families were told “all possible investigative actions have been launched,” the outlet reported.

“It means the case has now been buried, which makes me very sad,” said Irena Palsterman, one of eight victims of the Ulster attacks, according to the outlet.

An appeals court in Mons later ordered investigators to hear testimony from two more witnesses, including the brother who recorded the license plate number before the attack in Ulster, CBS News reported, citing AFP.

“We don’t want to give up,” Kristiaan Vandenbussche, a lawyer representing the victims’ families, said, according to the outlet.

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