Freddy André Horion (born 21 September 1947) aka ''de Zonnebril'' is a Belgian convicted murderer. Along with Roland Feneulle (9 September 1953 – 22 October 2013), he was convicted in 1980 of the murder of the Steyaert family on 23 June 1979.

Crime

On June 23, 1979, Horion and Feneulle raided the home of car dealer Roland Steyaert in

Sint-Amandsberg Sint-Amandsberg (; ) is a sub-municipality of the city of Ghent located in the province of East Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium. The municipality of Sint-Amandsberg was formed in 1872, when it was detached from the municipality of Oostakker. ...

. Roland Steyaert was murdered in his garage, followed by the rest of the family: wife Leona Van Lancker, their 13-year-old daughter Hilde, as well as 22-year-old daughter Anne-Marie and her 24-year-old fiancé Marc De Croock, who came home unsuspectingly.

Conviction and imprisonment

The police discovered a connection with an earlier murder case: the one on Hélène Lichachevski, a Polish shopkeeper in the port of Ghent who was killed on 9 February 1979 with the same weapon. Two days after the murder of the Steyaert family, Feneulle was arrested, and Horion was arrested the following day. Horion, defended by the young Jef Vermassen, and Feneulle were found guilty of sixfold murder in 1980 by the East Flemish court of

assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

and sentenced to death, which was immediately converted into

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

, in which Horion is still serving. After being locked up in the prison of Leuven Central and Bruges for decades, Horion was transferred to the Hasselt Prison in November 2009 at the request of his lawyer. At a time when a multitude of escapes were occurring at Belgian prisons, Horion was banned from walking to the open-air courtyard. Horion managed to escape in October 1982. After being in hiding in the Netherlands for a month and a half, Horion was arrested again. Feneulle was imprisoned in the prison of Bruges and died there at the age of 60. Horion would now deny the murder of the East Flemish shopkeeper Lichachevski for which he was convicted, and put the blame on a friend. He claims this in a series of letters. On 9 May 2023, the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

ruled that Belgium violated Horion's rights due to the fact that he has "no realistic prospect of release" (a violation of article 3 of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

) after being repeatedly denied parole. On the 2nd of May 2025, VRT reported that Horion has applied for

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

. His lawyer states as the reason unbearable psychological suffering, brought about by his imprisonment and repeated parole denials. He has requested multiple times to be transferred to a forensic psychiatric centre, but these requests have always been denied.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horion, Freddy 1947 births Belgian mass murderers Belgian people convicted of murder Belgian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Belgian serial killers Family murders Living people People from Ghent Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Belgium 20th-century mass murder in Belgium 20th-century murderers