Assizes court trial in Arlon: a nurse contests murder charge
Vinciane Welvaert, 53, is being tried before the Arlon assizes court for killing Marie Reding in Martelange in March 2023. The jury withdrew to deliberate on Friday morning.
Assizes court trial in Arlon: a nurse contests murder charge
A 53-year-old healthcare professional is facing trial before the Arlon assizes court. Vinciane Welvaert is accused of taking the life of Marie Reding on 1 March 2023 in Martelange, in the south of the Belgian province of Luxembourg.
On Friday morning, the twelve jurors withdrew to examine the evidence in the case and determine the guilt of the accused. They must answer two crucial questions concerning her responsibility in the death of the victim.
Before this deliberation period, the defendant spoke for the last time. Her voice strained by emotion, she acknowledged imperfections in her role as a family member whilst categorically denying having committed the criminal act of which she is accused.
Prosecutor Alice Lecomte supported the theory of guilt. She argued that no apparent motive was necessary to establish responsibility in a voluntary homicide. According to her analysis, the circumstances reveal a characteristic sequence of events: tensions, an escalation of tension, then a fatal passage to action.
The defence counsel, Me Xavier Koener, for his part insisted on the presence of legitimate doubt. He urged the jurors to assess whether the proof of guilt surpassed the threshold of plausible suspicion.
On the part of the civil claimants, Me Sandra Berbuto rejected the hypothesis of a judicial error. She recalled that a no-case dismissal could not be ordered solely on the grounds that an element of evidence was missing. She invited the jurors to weigh all the evidence favouring and opposing the accused, specifying that certain perpetrators of homicide act without identifiable motivation, which does not in itself constitute a miscarriage of justice.
Source: La Dernière Heure
Source: DHnet