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Jan Caubergh

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Jan Caubergh
Born
Jan Caubergh

(1934-09-18)18 September 1934
Lanaken, Belgium
Died29 November 2013(2013-11-29) (aged 79)
Bruges, Belgium
Conviction(s)Murder
Criminal penaltyDeath; commuted to life imprisonment
Details
Victims3
CountryBelgium

Jan Caubergh (18 September 1934 – 29 November 2013) was a Belgian serial killer. In 1966, he received 25 years of forced labour for his participation in a robbery in which his gang shot a nurse who was severely maimed and later committed suicide. In 1977 he was released on parole.

On 21 February 1979, he raped his pregnant neighbour, 19-year-old Yvonne Smits, shooting her in the back of the head afterwards. Later he strangled his girlfriend, 24-year-old Rina Van Geldorp and their five-month-old son Nicky. He also wounded a policeman with a Long Rifle, later rigging up his police car in an attempt to injure another two policemen. After a manhunt lasting several days in which he hid on barges on the Albert Canal and a bottle stopper factory in Deurne, he was arrested in a hotel in Athenembuurt, Antwerp.[1][2] He was given the death sentence, but it was later converted to a life imprisonment.

In 2003 Caubergh stabbed a prison guide with a cake knife during a trip out of the central prison in Leuven. The supervisor survived the attack. In September 2010, Caubergh received another 12 years in prison.[3] He spent more than 45 years of his life in prison, the last 34 and a half of which were uninterrupted. That made him one of the longest-serving detainees in the country.

On 5 November 2013 several reports from the Belgian media announced that Caubergh had died in the penitentiary complex in Bruges.[4] This was denied a few days later by the Belgian Prison System.[5] He eventually died on 29 November 2013. At that time he was the oldest detainee in Belgium.[6][7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Murderer has eaten my heart for 34 years" (in Flemish). Gazet Van Antwerpen. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  2. ^ "77-year-old multiple murderer is back again" (in Flemish). Het Nieuwsblad. June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  3. ^ "They will never be released again" (in Flemish). De Standaard. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Serial killer Jan Caubergh (79) died in Bruges prison" (in Flemish). Het Belang van Limburg. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Notorious Belgian murderer is still alive" (in Flemish). De Telegraaf. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Oldest prisoner in the country died" (in Flemish). De Standaard. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  7. ^ "The oldest Belgian serial killer dies in a cell" (in Flemish). Het Nieuwsblad. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.