Solved case · 2012
The short answer
A 32-year-old gay man was abducted from a bar in Liège, Belgium, beaten, and left to die in a field in April 2012, in what became the first homophobic murder case recognized under Belgian law. Four men were convicted in December 2014.
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Suggest coverage for Murder of Ihsane JarfiIhsane Jarfi, a 32-year-old gay man living in Liège, Belgium, disappeared on April 22, 2012, after leaving the Open Bar, a gay bar in the city center, in a car with four other men. According to one of the men later arrested, the group struck Jarfi while still in the car, telling him they wanted "to teach the homo a lesson."
The men then stripped Jarfi and beat him, inflicting very serious injuries that included 17 fractured ribs. They took his money and cell phone and left him naked and bleeding in a field outside the city. A medical examiner later determined that Jarfi died between four and six hours after being abandoned there. His body was found nine days later, on May 1, 2012, by two hikers.
In February 2014, four men — Mutlu Kizilaslan, Jérémy Wintgens, Jonathan Lekeu, and Eric Parmentier — were charged with homophobic murder. They also faced charges of theft with aggravating circumstances, including committing murder to facilitate the theft or ensure impunity, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, acts of serious humiliation or degradation, and kidnapping.
A trial opened in November 2014 before the Liège Assize Court. In December 2014, the court convicted Kizilaslan, Wintgens, and Parmentier of the homophobic assassination of Jarfi and sentenced each to life imprisonment. Lekeu was convicted of homophobic murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The case was recognized as the first homophobic murder case under Belgian law and drew wide public attention to anti-LGBT violence in the country. It has since been addressed in a book written by Jarfi's father, Ihsane Jarfi: le couloir du deuil (2013); a television documentary, Le crépuscule d'Ihsane, broadcast on RTBF in 2013 and 2014; a theatrical work, La reprise, Histoire(s) du théâtre (I), directed by Milo Rau, which premiered in Brussels in 2017 and was later staged in Edinburgh in 2019; and a 2021 film, Animals, dedicated to his memory.
Ihsane Jarfi is born.
Jarfi disappears after leaving the Open Bar, a gay bar in central Liège, in a car with four other men.
Jarfi's body is found in a field by two hikers, nine days after he disappeared.
Mutlu Kizilaslan, Jérémy Wintgens, Jonathan Lekeu, and Eric Parmentier are charged with homophobic murder, theft with aggravating circumstances, torture, and kidnapping.
Trial opens before the Liège Assize Court.
The court convicts Kizilaslan, Wintgens, and Parmentier of homophobic assassination, sentencing each to life imprisonment; Lekeu is convicted of homophobic murder and sentenced to 30 years.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
32-year-old gay man abducted and killed in Liège, Belgium, in April 2012.[3]
Convicted by the Liège Assize Court in December 2014 of the homophobic assassination of Ihsane Jarfi; sentenced to life imprisonment.[3]
Convicted by the Liège Assize Court in December 2014 of the homophobic assassination of Ihsane Jarfi; sentenced to life imprisonment.[3]
Convicted by the Liège Assize Court in December 2014 of the homophobic murder of Ihsane Jarfi; sentenced to 30 years in prison.[3]
Convicted by the Liège Assize Court in December 2014 of the homophobic assassination of Ihsane Jarfi; sentenced to life imprisonment.[3]
From the record
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Credit: User Mario scolas on fr.wikipediaCC BY-SA 2.0SourceSOLVEDListenLiège, Belgium · 1990s
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Place Saint-Lambert, Liège · 2010s
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Credit: SaschaporscheCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenBrunssummerheide, Landgraaf, Netherlands · 1990s
Nicky Verstappen, an 11-year-old boy, disappeared from a summer camp in Brunssum, Netherlands, on 10 August 1998 and was found dead the next evening in nearby Landgraaf. A nationwide DNA-screening program led to the 2018 arrest of Jos Brech, who was ultimately convicted of manslaughter, kidnapping, sexual abuse, and possession of child pornography, with the verdict upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023.
Marcinelle, Charleroi, Belgium · 1990s
Belgian serial killer and child abuser Marc Dutroux abducted, imprisoned, and sexually abused six girls between 1995 and 1996, four of whom died; his 2004 trial and the police failures that preceded it triggered a nationwide reckoning with Belgium's justice system.
Credit: Jari AsselmanCC BY-SA 4.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenBrabant province, Belgium · 1982
Between 1982 and 1985, an unidentified gang known as the Brabant killers carried out a series of armed robberies and shootings across Belgium's Brabant province, killing 28 people and injuring 22 in one of the country's most notorious unsolved crime sprees. Despite decades of investigation, including a 2024 closure and a 2025 reopening around a new lead, the gang's members have never been identified.
Credit: JapplemediaCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenBrussels-Central railway station, Brussels, Belgium · 2006
Joe Van Holsbeeck, a 17-year-old Belgian student, was fatally stabbed during an attempted robbery of his MP3 player in the crowded main hall of Brussels-Central railway station on 12 April 2006, sparking national outcry and a large silent march.
