For the first time, the Belgian judicial authorities have released a sketch of a suspect that has been made on DNA analysis. The dailies ‘Het Nieuwsblad’ and ‘Gazet van Antwerpen’ report that the sketch of a suspect in a 33-year-old murder case has been released.
A first in Belgium: Detectives use DNA to create a photofit of a suspect in a 33-year-old murder case
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Ingrid Caeckaert was killed in 1991 and now thanks to the use of DNA analysis and state of the art technology detectives believe that they know what the suspect in the case looks like.
The West European Caucasian man was around 40 at the time of the murder. He killed 26-year-old Ingrid Caeckaert by stabbing her 62 times at her flat in the West Flemish coastal village of Heist on 16 March 1991. The killer also injured himself with his own knife. He left a bloodied handprint on the glass door at the entrance of the block of flats where he killed Ingrid Caeckaert. There was also a long trail of drops of blood on the street outside.
His DNA was compared with that of dozens of suspects, but this always draw a blank. At the February the Federal Parliament passed a bill of DNA giving detectives the possibility of using new means to help solve unsolved cases. The West Flemish prosecutor’s office has confirmed that this new law has been used in the Caeckaert case.
The two newspapers write that "Based on the DNA profile of the perpetrator, whose blood was found at the scene of the crime, further investigation will be carried out". Other characteristics have been determined from the man's blood, such as his biogeographical origins".
At the time of murder 33-years ago the suspect was around 40 years old. He is of Western European origin.
This is the first time that Belgian detectives in have used DNA technology in this way.