Geneviève Lhermitte

Genevieve Lhermitte
Born	November 16, 1966 Brussels, Belgium
Nationality	Belgian
Occupation	Housewife
Criminal status	Currently in prison
Spouse	Bouchaib Moqadem
Children	Four daughters, one son
Parents	Michel Lhermitte Marina Schoevaert
Motive	Desperation
Conviction(s)	Murder
Criminal penalty	Life in prison

Genevieve Lhermitte is a Belgian woman who killed her five children in February 2007. She was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Personal life

Genevieve Lhermitte was born on November 16, 1966 in Brussels to Michel Lhermitte, a businessman and a student, and Marina Schoevaert, a nurse. Lhermitte was followed by two more daughters: Catherine in 1969, and Mireille in 1972.

Though she struggled with her coursework and self-confidence during her secondary studies, Lhermitte graduated in 1991 with a diploma in French and history from the Educational Institute of Social Promotion of the French Community (IEPSCF) in Uccle. It was during the 1988-1989 year at IEPSCF that Lhermitte met her husband Bouchaib Moqadem, who was studying mathematics and physics but did not complete his studies.

Lhermitte and Moqadem married on September 22, 1990, and moved into the apartment of Dr. Michel Schaar, a physician, with whom Moqadem was residing. Schaar had befriended Moqadem's family in Morocco in the 1980s and served as the young man's host in Belgium, and Moqadem considered Schaar as an adoptive father. While Moqadem worked at a night-shop, it was Schaar that was the primary financial provider. Lhermitte did not protest cohabiting with Schaar, as she was certain the living situation was temporary.

In 1991, Lhermitte was hired as a teacher. Shortly after beginning her new career, Lhermitte gave birth to her first child, Yasmine (b. August 13, 1992). Three years later, she delivered her second child, Nora (b. February 13, 1995). Between the births of her first two daughters, on June 17, 1994, one of Lhermitte's students flashed a gun at her that he had hidden inside his jacket. From June 1, 1995 to August 31, 1996, Lhermitte was granted leave from her teaching position due to post-partum depression.

After the birth of Lhermitte's first child Yasmin, Schaar purchased a house for himself and the couple to live in, and he dedicated his apartment to his practice. In 1996, Schaar hired Moqadem to serve as his filing assistant part-time, then full-time in 1998. During this period, Schaar still covered most expenses, including vacations, house repairs, monthly allowances, and life insurance for each family member.

Lhermitte gave birth to two more daughters, Miriam (b. April 20, 1997) and Mina (May 20, 1999), before the family's move from Brussels to the provincial town of Nivelles. Schaar paid the mortgage and lived on the second floor.

Tensions began rising between Lhermitte and her husband. Moqadem would spend long hours away from home, becoming a regular at a bar and a spa. In addition, he would take several trips each year to visit his family in Marrakesh, which the length of each trip ranging from one week to a month. Lhermitte's first son and fifth child, Mehdi, was born on August 9, 2003.

In 2004, after Mehdi's birth, Schaar recommended that Lhermitte should see a psychiatrist.

Crime

On February 28, 2007, Lhermitte's husband was expected to return from a trip to Morocco to visit his family. After picking up her children and preparing a meal for them, Lhermitte wrote a letter to her friend Valerie. She then went to a grocery store and slipped two knives into her shopping bag.

When she returned, she hid the knives in a drawer and called over her daughter Mina. Lhermitte tried to strangle Mina, but when the child struggled the mother resorted to slashing her throat with one of the stolen knives.

Then she called over the youngest and the only son, Medhi. Once again she tried to strangle him, but again switched and cut his throat.

Lhermitte then told her daughter Myriam that she had a surprise for her in the office and to wear a blue handkerchief over her eyes. Once Myriam arrived in the office, Lhermitte took a marble plaque she found nearby and smashed it over Myriam's head. Afterwards, Lhermitte cut her throat.

With the next daughter, Nora, Lhermitte asked her daughter to sit in a chair while Lhermitte slit her throat from behind.

Lhermitte's last victim was her eldest daughter, Yasmin. The mother called over Yasmin and told her she had a surprise for her, just like she had done with Myriam. Lhermitte attacked Yasmin from behind as she entered the office, but Yasmin was able to dodge the knife by diving to the ground. Once Yasmin was on the ground, Lhermitte stabbed her in the back and slashed her throat.

Lhermitte then attempted to kill herself with the knife by cutting her chest. Knowing that the wound would not be fatal, she called emergency services to the house.

Investigators found the five children tucked in their beds, some with stuffed toys in their arms.

Trial

Events

Genevieve Lhermitte's lawyers were Daniel Spreutels and Xavier Magnee. The jury consisted of eight women and four men. One quote that has received media attention from the trial, spoken by Xavier Magnee, is: 'Your task is to discover why a woman who had hitherto been a perfect mother suddenly exploded.'

Prosecutor Pierre Rans began opening statements with a nightmarish picture of the scene that met emergency services on February 28, 2007 at the former teacher's home in Nivelles, central Belgium.

The trial began on December 8, 2008 and lasted about two weeks, ending December 19, 2008 in the Assize Court of Brabant-Wallon in Nivelles.

During the trial, the judge was told that Lhermitte's position as wife and mother was disrupted by having a middle-aged Belguim doctor, Michel Schaar, as part of the family.

Select Quotations

• "He lived with us he even went on our honeymoon and slept in our room. We had to wait until he fell asleep before we could make love, I found that weird but Bouchaib said he regarded him as his stepfather. I think the doctor loved my husband in a platonic way."

• "He watched TV with us in the evenings and went on holiday with us in the summer. We depended on him financially."

• In court, Lhermitte was asked why she laid the dead body of her 13-year-old daughter Nora in the bathroom used by Dr Schaar. She replied: "I wanted to hurt him. Nora was his favorite."

Aftermath

Trial Billing

Following the trial, it became apparent that Lhermitte was not able to pay for the trial costs, so it fell to her husband, Bouchaib Moqadem, to pick up the bill. The overall court expenses and fines were 72,743 euros (about $93,000). Moqadem, after losing his entire family while he was on a trip to Morocco, said he was “disgusted and revolted” by the injustice of this billing system.

The bill did conform to the Law of Belgium, with the state seeking funds due to have been shared from the sale of their house under their divorce agreement. Moqadem’s attorney attempted to have the bill written off, calling for “administrative requirements to be balanced by decency” given the nature of the tragedy.

Post-Trial Lawsuit

After being sentenced to life imprisonment, Lhermitte filed a lawsuit seeking €3m in damages against her psychiatrist. She claimed that had her psychiatrist rushed to see her while she was in her disturbed state, the crime would not have been committed. Lhermitte wanted to “secure recognition of the prejudice genuinely suffered” due to the physchiatrist’s “inaction.”

During the trial, a letter to Diderick Veldekens, Lhermitte’s doctor, was produced that revealed her intentions to harm her children. Veldekens claimed that he had met with Lhermitte after she wrote a letter to him on February 13, but that he was unavailable to meet after the second letter arrived on February 27.

The official movie poster: "Our Children."

In popular culture

Belgian director and screenwriter Joachim Lafosse released Our Children, a film based on the story, to positive reviews in 2012. One reviewer called the film a "gloomy and penetrating psychological drama" that portrays the claustrophobia of a protagonist who lives in an environment in which "the walls are constantly closing in around her." Our Children also attained an 80% rating on the aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

Émilie Dequenne, a French-speaking Belgian actress, played the character based on Genevieve Lhermitte. Dequenne won the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival and "Best Actress" at the Saint Petersburg International Film Festival for her role.

In December 2010, Moqadem and Schaar filed a lawsuit against Lafosse demanding that they be able to review the film's screenplay. The 4th Civil Chamber of the Court of Brussels ruled that the lawsuit was "admissible but unfounded." However, production had already begun — cast negotiations were finished, and the team had already approached the French government about receiving subsidies — and Lafosse demonstrated no intent to hand over his work.

The pair's lawyer subsequently released an official statement: "Moqadem and Schaar feel that this is a violation of their privacy and do not understand why the filmmakers have so little respect for them."