Belgium isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of crime, but back in the early 1980s the country was rocked by a string of robberies.

What makes the work of the “Crazy Brabant Killers” even scarier is that they were never caught, simply disappearing into thin air in 1985 after pulling off more than a dozen brazen robberies that left 28 people dead.

Like something out of a movie, right?

Before we get to the case’s big break, here is some background via the Guardian:

During a three-year spree, the Brabant Killers staged more than a dozen raids on supermarkets, hostels and a gunsmiths, during which they shot customers, staff and even children…

The killers’ proficiency in handling weapons raised suspicions at the time that there was a link with the gendarmerie, a former paramilitary police force of Belgium. Conspiracy theories circulated that the group was part of an attempt by the far left or right to undermine the state.

The group, usually comprising three disguised men known as “the Giant”, “the Killer” and a getaway driver, “the Old Man” – would at times take just petty cash and low-value goods, yet would be content to gun down anyone in their way…

The last appearance of the group, which operated in the Brabant province around Brussels, was in November 1985 when they burst into a supermarket in Aalst firing pump-action shotguns. Eight people were killed in the raid, including people cowering on the floor and a nine-year-old girl waiting in a car outside.

What a charming bunch, although I suppose the nickname “the Killer” pretty much speaks for itself.

Now officials in Belgium believe they may have cracked the case, or at least have a credible bit of info to go on, after the brother of a retired policeman came forward to claim his dying sibling had confessed two years ago.

Apparently his brother said he was “the Giant”, the gang’s ringleader, before he bit the dirt:

The suspect, named only as Christiaan B, was dismissed from the Diana Group, an elite police commando unit, in 1981.

His brother’s lawyer has suggested the suspect was sacked from the force after his gun accidentally unloaded, and he was deeply bitter about the career-ending incident, drinking heavily until his death in 2015.

Local media have been comparing wanted posters from the time with photographs of the tall man being accused of the crimes…

Patricia Finne, a daughter of one of the 28 victims, described the news as “the first really serious revelation in 30 years”. She told Belgian media: “I really hope that this will lead to dismantling the rest of the gang, whether they are dead or not.”

Where’s Liam Neeson when you need him?

From Tracking Terrorism, a little more on the gang:

In 1990 a parliamentary report into the massacres concluded that the killers were members or former members of the security forces: extreme right-wingers who enjoyed high-level protection and were preparing a right-wing coup. The Brebant killings were part of a conspiracy to destabilize [sic] Belgium’s democratic regime, possibly to prepare the ground for a right-wing coup.

Crazy Brabant Killers are also known as Nijvel Gang, Brabant Killers, De Bende van Nijvel, de Bende, Tes Tueurs du Brabant, les Tueurs fous du Brabant, and les Tueus fous du Brabant.