Vigil for Belgium creche victims - BBC News ABC NewsVigil for Belgium creche victimsBBC News - 33 minutes agoThousands of people have marched in silence through the Belgian town of Dendermonde, where two babies and a nurse died in a vicious knife attack.Thousands pay tribute to Belgian daycare victims ReutersBelgians march over creche knife attack Sydney Morning HeraldThe Associated Press - Xinhua - Telegraph.co.uk - euronews
Creche killer's motives unknown
- Bruno Waterfield, Dendermonde
- January 27, 2009
THE man accused of knifing to death a teacher and two toddlers in a nursery in Belgium is displaying suicidal tendencies in his prison cell, judicial sources have said.
The 20-year-old suspect, Kim De Gelder, who is being held in the hospital wing of a prison in Bruges and is being force-fed, looked apathetic during a hearing on Sunday before magistrates.
Psychiatrists were due to interview him last night.
The suspect has remained silent about the reasons that led to the carnage in the kindergarten in Dendermonde, north-west of Brussels.
Sources have said that when De Gelder was arrested he had the addresses of three other creches and was armed with three knives, an axe and a replica pistol. He faces charges of triple murder and multiple counts of attempted murder.
On Sunday at least 6000 people marched silently through Dendermonde to the scene of the attack carrying white flowers, ribbons and balloons.
De Gelder, who dressed as the
Batman character the Joker, during the attack has been described by former workmates as a "film freak".
The Fabeltjesland creche where the attack took place has been permanently closed
Corneel Vermeir, aged six months, Leon Garcia, nine months, and their carer Marita Blindeman, 54, were killed on Friday. One infant and a creche worker remain critically ill with knife injuries.
De Gelder has emerged as a troubled loner. "His nickname was Satan," said one former schoolmate.
Neighbours who knew his parents described De Gelder as "someone who lived alone in his own world".
"He was sometimes seen chattering away to himself," said one. "He was local, but he was a stranger to everyone here. He was a loner who shunned contact with others."
De Gelder resigned suddenly on December 22 from his job at a cash-and-carry company.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/creche-killers-motives-unknown-20090126-7pyz.html
Belgian 'linked to fourth murder'
The victims' families were too grief-stricken to take part in Sunday's vigil
The Belgian man charged with killing two babies and a nurse at a creche near Brussels is also suspected of killing an elderly woman, officials have said.
The 20-year-old man has been named by Belgian media as Kim De Gelder.
He was arrested following Friday's knife rampage through a nursery in the town of Dendermonde, in which 13 people were also hurt - most of them babies.
On Monday, officials said he was also suspected of stabbing a woman to death near Dendermonde earlier this month.
Prosecutor Christian Du Four told journalists the man was believed to have been behind "an abominable crime committed against a 73-year-old woman on 16 January".
There were "very clear indications of links between the murders", he said.
The woman was stabbed to death in her flat in Beveren, near the northern city of Antwerp, while her husband was out visiting neighbours, according to the AFP news agency.
Town shocked
On Sunday as many as 6,000 people marched in silence through Dendermonde, a small town in the north-west of Belgium.
Mourners laid wreaths at the site of the attack, where the two babies, who have been named as Korneel and Leon, were killed along with 54-year-old nursery worker Marita Blindeman, who died trying to protect them.
The local mayor said the Fabeltjesland daycare centre would never re-open.
The families of the victims were said to be too grief-stricken to take part in the vigil.
The mayor said the Fabeltjesland daycare centre would never re-open
The man charged with the stabbings and murders is due to appear in court on Tuesday. He was arrested hours after Friday's attack at the nursery.
The attack reportedly began after the suspect rang the doorbell at the nursery and told staff he needed some information.
When they opened the door, he ran in and "quickly pulled out a knife and started using it on the children", Mr Du Four said.
"He then went up to another floor and started doing the same thing again," he added.
The 10 children injured in the attack all had "multiple stab wounds on their legs, arms and all over their bodies", doctors said.
Mr Du Four said that man probably intended to attack other nurseries after carrying out the first attack.
"He had a list of three creches in Dendermonde, including the one where he acted," the prosecutor said.
Belgian creche stabbings: suspect quoted Heath Ledger
The suspect in the Belgian creche stabbings is said to have quoted Heath Ledger from the Batman film when he was arrested.
By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
Last Updated: 12:33PM GMT 26 Jan 2009
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The suspect in the Belgian creche stabbings is said to have quoted Heath Ledger from the Batman film when he was arrested.
Kim De Gelder, aged 20, was arrested last Friday shortly after stabbing two babies and one of their carers to death in a gruesome attack that has stunned Belgium. He was dressed and apparently wearing make-up that gave him the appearance of the Batman character the Joker.
Investigators are examining whether the attack was timed to mark the first anniversary of the death of Heath Ledger, the actor who played the Joker in the film Batman, The Dark Knight.
It has emerged that when he was arrested, Mr De Gelder's only words were: "I have a question".
The words echo a scene in Batman: the Dark Knight when the Joker violently gatecrashes a party looking for a the fictional attorney general of Gotham City, Harvey Dent.
"I only have one question: where is Harvey Dent? I'll settle for his loved ones," says the character played by Ledger, before threatening a woman with a knife.
Patrick De Mey, the police officer who arrested Mr De Gelder, described the suspect as being in a passive and trance-like state.
"When I asked him to step off his bicycle and put his backpack on the ground he obeyed perfectly," he told the Gazet Van Antwerpen.
"But in answer to my questions, he clearly had no understanding. He continued to stare at me all the time with wide open eyes and a large grin on his face."
Mr De Gelder has been described by former schoolmates and work colleagues as a "film freak" and "movie addict".
Since his capture, he has not spoken and has gone on hunger strike.
He was reported to be on an intravenous drip in a medical facility in a prison in Bruges on Sunday night.
Ledger died of a drug overdose on Jan 22, 2008, a year and a day before Mr De Gelder is accused of carrying out the attack.
According to witness statements and police drawings, the suspect had painted his face white, blackened his eyes and had coloured his hair red.
His gruesome and bizarre garb prompted investigators to make the Joker comparison and make a link to another cult Goth film, The Crow, which inspired Ledger in his Batman role.
Belgium's Le Soir newspaper has even speculated on the significance of the fact that the name Gelder is an anagram for Ledger.
The Fabeltjesland, or Storyland, creche in the town of Dendermonde where the attack took place has been permanently closed to prevent children and parents being "constantly confronted with the buildings where the attack occurred".
Corneel Vermeir, aged six months, Leon Garcia, nine months, and their carer Marita Blindeman, 54, were killed on Friday when the assailant entered the creche and began to slash at the children and their adult supervisers.
Sources have said that when Mr De Gelder was arrested he had the addresses of three other creches on his person.
The theory that more attacks were planned is supported by evidence that the suspect was armed with three knives, an axe and a replica pistol.
Mr De Gelder will be examined by three psychiatrists before a closed court hearing on Tuesday decides if he is mentally responsible for his actions.
The young man, who lived his whole life within three miles of the family home, in the Eksaarde district of Sinaai, has emerged as a troubled loner.
Former classmates at the Roman Catholic Sint Carolus school, in the town of Sint Niklaas, described him as a fan of Goth music who could sometimes behave oddly.
He was nicknamed Satan because of his long black hair.
Mr De Gelder studied to become a chemist's assistant and successfully completed his exams in 2006.
