A man has confessed to stabbing his teacher to death 30 years after being her pupil because he felt “bullied, humiliated and belittled” in her class.
Gunter Uwents, 37, admitted to stabbing Maria Verlinden, 59, to death in her home in Antwerp, Belgium, according to prosecutors.
He reportedly told investigators he had never got over his alleged experience with Maria when he was just a seven-year-old boy.
Uwents claimed to have lost control when he visited her in November 2020 at her home, reports the Guardian.
Police reports say she was stabbed 101 times and died in her kitchen.
Former schoolteacher Maria was known as a devout Christian who had a record of helping homeless people.
The crime had gone unsolved for 16 months despite police taking hundreds of DNA samples to try to find the culprit.
It was thought she was not the victim of a violent robbery as her purse containing cash was left untouched on the dining table next to her body.
Her husband made a public appeal for witnesses to no avail with the trail seemingly cold.
However, in March last year Uwents slipped up by admitting the crime to a friend who alerted the authorities.
Police said that he provided a DNA sample to be compared with traces found at the crime scene.
Lut Verlinden, 62, the victim’s sister, who also taught Uwents in the 1990s, told a local outlet: “We are all confused. I have contacted all former colleagues with whom Gunter was in class, but no one can remember an incident between him and Maria.
“Gunter was always a quiet, introverted boy. There was nothing more to say about him. His parents are also very good Catholic people.
“I feel sorry for them, because they will never dare to show themselves in Noorderwijk again, I’m afraid.”
Local media said that Uwents told detectives that as a child his teacher had ignored him and he had been “bullied, humiliated and belittled” by classmates.
According to one account he told police: “When I raised my hand, she always pointed out someone else to answer – never me.
“And that made me very unhappy.”
Uwents claimed that he had only gone to his victim’s house “for a good conversation” but that she had laughed at him and dismissed him as “a dork”.
The suspect also maintained that he had not brought a blade or knife to the house with police yet to find a murder weapon.
The local prosecutors’ office said Uwents had provided “detailed explanations” for his act, which amounted to a confession.
Uwents appeared before a judge on Tuesday and has been placed in custody on a murder charge.
Laugh at me will ya? Got what she deserved.
Nothing wrong with his long term memory. Smoke a blunt with me mate.