Belgian baroness’s stepson ‘fatally shot her four times in the head after arguing about her “squandering his billionaire father’s money” and waiting to ambush her in her car’
- Baroness Myriam Ullens, 70, was shot dead in Ohain, Brussels, reportedly over an issue of inheritance
- The suspect, Nicolas Ullens, has since been detained by police
A baroness and art collector was shot dead with four bullets to the head, allegedly by her stepson outside her home in the south of Brussels on Wednesday morning.
Baroness Myriam Ullens, 70 – whose body was discovered on Thursday morning – was with her husband, Baron Guy Ullens, 88, when she was killed in the village of Ohain, allegedly by Nicolas Ullens, who has since been detained by police.
Baron Ullens, the father of the suspect, survived the incident, but reportedly sustained a bullet to the leg.
The pair were in their car outside their home around 10am when Ullens fired six bullets aimed at his stepmother, who died at the scene, according to La Libre.
Ullens then presented himself to La Mazarine local police at 11am.
According to reports, the baroness and her stepson had been in long-running disputes over issues of inheritance, and he accused her of ‘squandering’ his billionaire father’s money.
Baroness Myriam Ullens was shot dead, allegedly by her stepson outside her home in the south of Brussels
According to reports, the baroness and her stepson had been in long-running disputes over issues of inheritance
As per the publication, Ullens ambushed his parents’ car following a heated discussion between the family in their estate.
He waited for them to leave, before firing six bullets ‘in the direction of the victim.’
A representative of Walloon Brabant judicial police said in a statement: ‘The suspect offered no resistance and explained that he had killed his stepmother.
‘He was carrying a handgun, which was seized. He was deprived of his freedom.’
The 57-year-old suspect was heard on Thursday by an investigating judge, who placed him under arrest, and charged him with murder and a violation of the law on armed weapons.
The alleged murderer will appear on Monday before the council chamber, who will decide whether or not to keep him in detention.
Baron Guy Ullens de Schooten and Baroness Myriam Ullens de Schooten pose during the Don Quichotte 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 by collecting classical Chinese art scroll paintings, before switching their attention to contemporary art.
The couple opened the Ullens center in 2007 – considered at the time to be the first contemporary art museum in China.
In 2004, baroness Ullens, who went by Mimi and was a cancer survivor, founded the Mimi Foundation to create centers within hospitals to provide physical and mental therapy for patients undergoing cancer treatment.
In 2013 she co-organised an exhibition and benefit auction during Frieze Week in London to support the Mimi Foundation.
‘If many of the artists in this project are Chinese that is because of our long and close relationship with them. This is just the tip of our iceberg—that we are continuing to follow and collect intensively with the new generation,’ the baroness told Ocula at the time.
The couple opened the Ullens center in 2007 – considered at the time to be the first contemporary art museum in China
‘A collection is like a living breathing body. It evolves in an organic manner.’
The baroness Ullens was born in Colgone, Germany, in 1952.
Nicolas Ullens, a former Belgian state security officer, is one of the baron’s four children with his first wife, Micheline Franckx.
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