The stepdaughter of a Belgian baroness, who was shot dead by her own stepson on Wednesday, accuses her of stealing the family’s fortune and “wanting her fortune for herself”.
Baroness Myriam Ullens’ (70) body was found earlier this week outside her luxury residence in the south of Brussels after she was shot in the head with four bullets.
Her stepson, Nicolas Ullens, a former Belgian spy, confessed to killing the baroness and wounding his billionaire father with a total of nine shots in the leg.
Baron Guy Ullens de Schooten Whettnall (88) was with his wife at the time, but survived the attack in the village of Ohain.
But Brigitte Ullens, the sister of the famous attacker, defended her brother, saying her stepmother “ruined the family” and “wanted it all for herself”.
Baron Guy Ullens de Schooten Whettnall (right) was with Baroness Myriam Ullens (left) at the time of Wednesday’s attack
Nicolas Ullens has now handed himself over to the police and confessed to the murder. He is charged with murder and weapons crimes
Brigitte told the Nieuwsblad newspaper that her brother was “a very nice man” despite confessing to killing her stepmother.
She said her brother finally snapped when it emerged the baroness had plans to sell the family home.
It exploded on Wednesday. Our family has been broken up for years. Only one thing mattered to Myriam: She wanted the family’s fortune for herself and we didn’t count.
“She even forbade Dad to keep in touch with us. In recent years, father’s mental health has deteriorated, which she has taken advantage of.
“She just put the house up for sale. What should she do with the money? I don’t know, but I think she would have kept it to herself.”
Nicolas Ullens has now handed himself over to the police and confessed to the murder. He is charged with murder and weapons crimes.
He is due to appear in court on Monday.
Prosecutors said Nicholas bowed to shooting as part of his spy training with Belgian intelligence. They said he rammed his stepmother’s VW Golf with his own car as she tried to drive into the driveway of their home in Ohain.
He then fired six shots in the direction of the victim.
The baroness and her stepson were reportedly embroiled in a protracted dispute over inheritances, with him accusing her of wasting his billionaire father’s money.
A representative of the Walloon Brabant Criminal Investigation Department said in a statement: “The suspect offered no resistance and stated that he killed his stepmother.
“He was carrying a gun that was confiscated. He has been deprived of his freedom.’
The 57-year-old suspect was heard by an investigating judge on Thursday, who arrested him and charged him with murder and a firearms offence.
The couple opened the Ullens Center in 2007 – at the time the first contemporary art museum in China
Baroness Myriam Ullens was shot dead by her stepson outside her home in the south of Brussels
Baron Guy Ullens de Schooten and Baroness Myriam Ullens de Schooten pose during the Don Quixote ballet
The baron and baroness – who opened the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing – married in 1999 and have been influential art collectors ever since.
They began their career collecting scroll paintings of classical Chinese art before shifting their focus to contemporary art.
The couple opened the Ullens Center in 2007 – at the time the first contemporary art museum in China.
In 2004 Baroness Ullens, whose name was Mimi and who was a cancer patient, founded the Mimi Foundation to set up centers in hospitals to provide physical and mental therapy to patients undergoing cancer treatment.
In 2013 she co-organized an exhibition and charity auction during Frieze Week in London in support of the Mimi Foundation.
“If many of the artists in this project are Chinese, it is because of our long and close relationship with them. This is just the tip of our iceberg, which we will continue to monitor and intensively collect from the offspring,” the baroness told Ocula at the time.
“A collection is like a living, breathing body. It develops organically.”
Baroness Ullens was born in 1952 in Cologne, Germany.
Nicolas Ullens, a former Belgian state security officer, is one of the Baron’s four children with his first wife, Micheline Franckx.
He spent his career in the Belgian security service in the Russian counterintelligence.
“He was very haughty and sometimes bragged about his wealth,” a former colleague told the Times.
“In state security you have to be discreet and diplomatic, but he was not like that. He was a loud mouth. He learned to shoot from us.’
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Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
