The Murder of Kitty Van Nieuwenhuysen

During the night of December 4, 2007, police inspectors Kitty Van Nieuwenhuysen and Peter Vanstalle were dispatched to a home invasion in Lot, a district of Beersel in Flemish Brabant. Their patrol vehicle came under gunfire as they arrived. Kitty was killed and her colleague was seriously wounded.

Kitty Van Nieuwenhuysen

Kitty was 23 and had only recently begun her career as a police inspector. Her death became a lasting reference point in Belgium's debate about violence against police and the execution of long prison sentences. Later coverage has repeatedly returned to the impact on her parents, colleagues and other people wounded during the same criminal episode.

The home invasion and police response

Before the police patrol arrived, three armed men had entered a home in Lot and seriously wounded resident Ismaël Saccoor. When Kitty and her colleague reached the area, the attackers opened fire on the police vehicle. Kitty died and Peter Vanstalle was badly injured.

Investigators arrested the three suspects in the weeks after the attack. Reliable Belgian reporting identifies them as Galip Kurum, Noureddine Cheikhni and Hassan Iasir. Some later reports vary slightly in the spelling of Iasir's surname; this file follows the spelling used by VRT NWS in its July 3, 2024 report.

Assize trial and convictions

In 2011, the three defendants were tried before an assize court and convicted of the murder of Kitty Van Nieuwenhuysen. Each received 30 years of imprisonment. The court also dealt with the other violent acts committed during the same home-invasion episode.

Later reporting has sometimes focused on which man likely fired the fatal shots. Because the available source material is more certain about the collective murder convictions than about assigning the fatal shot beyond doubt, this file does not convert a probability into a definitive factual claim.

Later releases

The criminal judgments remained in force, but sentence execution later became controversial. Noureddine Cheikhni and Hassan Iasir were conditionally released before Galip Kurum. In July 2024, VRT NWS reported that Kurum — the last of the three still incarcerated — had also been granted conditional release after roughly 16 years in prison.

Conditional release does not erase a conviction or mean the original 30-year sentences were overturned. It is a later sentence-execution decision made under Belgian law and subject to conditions, including restrictions on contact with victims and compensation obligations.

Timeline

1. December 4, 2007
   Home invasion and police shooting

   Three armed men carry out a home invasion in Lot. Kitty Van Nieuwenhuysen is killed when police respond; other victims are seriously wounded.

2. Late 2007–early 2008
   Three suspects are arrested

   Police identify and detain the men later prosecuted for the killing and related crimes.

3. 2011
   Assize court convictions

   Galip Kurum, Noureddine Cheikhni and Hassan Iasir are convicted of Kitty's murder and each receives a 30-year prison sentence.

4. 2019 onward
   Conditional release decisions draw public attention

   Later sentence-execution decisions allow the men to leave prison under differing conditions and timelines.

5. July 2024
   Last of the three is conditionally released

   Belgian reporting confirms that Galip Kurum is granted conditional release.

Current status

The murder case is solved and adjudicated: three men were convicted in 2011 and sentenced to 30 years. All three have since been released under sentence-execution mechanisms, but the convictions themselves were not reported as overturned.