Stephaan Du Lion

Stephaan Du Lion (born 12 May 1964) is a Belgian serial killer who raped and murdered at least four women in the Antwerp Province between 1992 and 1997, while working as a window cleaner. He was not linked to the crimes at the time, and the crimes remained unsolved for almost two decades.

Du Lion was finally exposed in 2017, after his DNA sample from a previous arrest for burglary linked him to the crime scenes. He was later tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. This case garnered extensive media coverage both in the country and abroad, and is often cited as an example of why legislation about new investigative methods using DNA should be used in solving Belgian cold cases.

Early life Stephaan Du Lion was born on 12 May 1964 in Antwerp, the youngest child and only son in a family with three older sisters. His father was an ironworker and his mother was a cleaning lady. The family lived in Borgerhout, where they were regularly subjected to violent outbursts at the hands of Du Lion's father. During the interview, the man – using the pseudonym "Walter" – stated that he met Du Lion while fishing at the Rivierenhof, and that the two grew close over their mutual interests. "Walter" claimed that Du Lion always appeared cold and emotionless, and almost never talked about his parents. At that time, Du Lion was at a park in Berchem, waiting for a suitable victim to attack. He then spotted 21-year-old post office clerk Linda Verhoeven, who was trying to track down her dog after it ran off and had a sprained foot.

Unbeknownst to most of his acquaintances, Du Lion exhibited extremely misogynistic views, as he believed that the only thing women are useful for was sex. Le Tanter stated that he heard what sounded like a man sighing and sobbing in the stairwell just before finding his girlfriend's body, leading to speculation that this individual was Du Lion.

On 10 July 1993, Du Lion was waiting for a victim in Oelegem when he spotted 28-year-old Lutgarda Bogaerts cycling alone near the Duwvaart Canal. He then proceeded to rape her and strangled her with the bungee cord of her bicycle.

Du Lion was never charged in this case, which remains unsolved. In 2025, it was linked to a two rapes that occurred in 1992 and 1993. The year after that, Van Kerkhoven's case was linked via DNA to the . This revelation indicated that another serial offender was responsible for all three cases.

Investigation and arrest Shortly after Poppe's murder, investigators started investigating Du Lion as a possible suspect, as he was known to be in the vicinity due to his work as a window cleaner.

On 1 October, he confessed to the Poppe murder during an interrogation. However, to the surprise of the investigators, he also admitted responsibility for the murders of Bogaerts and Van den Reeck, describing details about each murder that only the killer could have known. The news was met with shock from the victims' families, who demanded precise answers from Du Lion about how and why he killed their loved ones. This suggestion was met with criticism by the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, who stated that such a database would violate the justice system's fundamental principle of innocent until proven guilty. That same month, the Antwerp judiciary expanded their investigation across the entire country in an order to determine whether Du Lion had struck in other areas.

In 2022, while Du Lion was still awaiting trial, Mazijn's brother Glenn gave an interview to Het Laatste Nieuws in which he shared their family and his own personal way of dealing with his sister's murder. In the interview, he stated that his parents had spent the remainder of their lives searching for Ariane's killer until they passed in 2005, and that if given the opportunity, he would not let Du Lion live.

His trial began on 3 February 2023. Throughout the proceedings, Du Lion admitted to killing Poppe, but remained silent on the other murders, as he claimed to not remember how he carried them out. This was despite the fact that just three days earlier, he apologized to Joël Le Tanter after hearing his testimony about how being suspected in the death of his girlfriend had irrevocably damaged his life.

On 14 February 2023, Du Lion was convicted on all counts after the jury deliberated for three and a half hours. During the sentencing phase, prosecutor Björn Backx demanded a life sentence for Du Lion, as he found no mitigating circumstances. A day later, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. During the reading of the verdict, Du Lion remained emotionless. As per Belgian law, he is eligible to apply for parole in October 2033.

Reactions to sentence The relatives of his victims reacted with disbelief at Du Lion's claims that he did not remember the crimes themselves, as he was somehow able to recount chatting with them.

In 2020, Du Lion's daughter stated to the media that she wanted to change her surname, as she "never wanted to hear her father's name again". The application was subsequently granted two years later.

In the media and culture Shortly after his conviction, Du Lion was interviewed by reports from Pano. This was later used in a two-part episode of the programme covering his trial, titled "The Story of the Assizes" .