On 11 April 2018, a police officer shot and killed a motorist in a pursuit in Bonnevoie. At the time, it was argued that the officer acted in self-defence as the motorist drove straight towards him and there seemed to be no other option.
The case went to trial in autumn last year as the argument of self-defence was questioned. The court also doubted the argument and awarded a five-year prison sentence to the officer, three of which suspended. The officer in return refused to accept the verdict and appealed the decision.
For Gladys Van der Maat, widow of the deceased motorist, this means that there is still no closure. In her first interview since the tragic events, she told our colleagues from RTL how she feels abandoned by both government and police.
Van der Maat works at a hotel in Vianden and it was there where she first learned of her husband’s death: “I saw the Luxemburger Wort [newspaper] with a large picture on the front page. I recognised my car, which was completely totalled, an above parts of the title. It said something of a deadly accident.”
At the time, her husband had already been missing for a day. It was not the first time that this happened, but most times he would reappear after a day. During the trial, it was alleged that he had a drug problem and was therefore in the Gare area on the day of his death.
After seeing the picture, Van der Maat called several hospitals and the police to find out whether something happened to her husband. A picture on the internet eventually allowed her to zoom in and recognise a little heart that was hanging from the rear window of her car.
While still in shock, Van der Maat tried to get information from the police on several occasions. Eventually she was put in contact with an inspector: “He told me that my husband had probably been shot dead and that I had to identify him. It was a Thursday and he told me to come on Monday. I then said no and told him I’m coming the next day. I wanted to know whether it was Richard, I had to be sure.”
To this day, Van der Maat does not understand why she had to learn of her husband’s death through the paper. At the time of his death, her husband was not carrying an ID and the car had fake license plates, which was the reason why officers pursued him in the first place. Nevertheless, there were bills with their names and address in the car, said Van der Maat.
She lives just across the border in a small German village and believes the police could have easily located her: “There is only one Gladys in town, people know me.”
Van der Maat says that she never received an apology for the death of her husband, neither from the police, nor from the officer who fired the shots. She does not believe that her Richard really wanted to run over the young man.
She believes that the most likely reason for her husband’s dangerous driving manoeuvre was the broken steering mechanism of her car, which forced him to closely drive by the officer. She does not understand why the officer did not shoot at the tyres of the vehicle.
Van der Maat accepts the initial suspended prison sentence for the officer. Nevertheless, she finds it difficult and explains in tears: “It is very little for someone who took another life.”
Van der Maat sees it as a burden that the verdict has been appealed: “It is simply tiring that I cannot get closure. I don’t advance in life, I always look at newspapers and the internet to see if something new has come out.”
The interview took place almost on the exact five-year anniversary of her husband’s death. The fact that she has no closure is clearly reflected in the large folder containing articles about the case that she carries around.
Van der Maat now hopes that the she will finally find peace after the appeal trial comes to an end. Whether or not she will want to attend the trial remains to be seen.
