Trigger Warning: This article mentions death and suicide and may be distressing to some readers.
From Murder Among The Mormons to Elisa Lam‘s chill-inducing case, Netflix’s foray into true crime territory looks to be far from over.
The streaming giant’s latest addition to its true crime collection is potentially one of its most haunting yet—if that’s even possible, of course.
Introducing: Under Suspicion: Uncovering The Wesphael Case.
The five-part docuseries dives deep into the life of former Belgian politician, Bernard Wesphael, who was accused of murdering his wife, Véronique Pirotton, in their Belgium hotel room back in 2013. Aside from the nature of the apparent crime, the high-profile case has left the world furious, demanding justice for Véronique and the other women who have been killed at the hands of the country’s members of parliament.
Fascinated? Keep reading for everything you need to know about the series—from the plot, the crime and where you can stream it in Australia.
What Is The Plot Of Under Suspicion?
Under Suspicion follows the high-profile case of Belgian politician Bernard Wesphael, who was accused of murdering his wife, Véronique Pirotton, in 2013. The true crime series features interviews with the acquitted Wesphael and other commentators as it looks at evidence surrounding the death of Wesphael’s wife of just over a year, who he claimed had died by suicide in a Belgian hotel room.
Created by Georges Huercano and Pascal Vrebos, true crime fans can expect the five episode docuseries to cover Wesphael’s arrest, interrogation and trial for manslaughter for her death—for which he was eventually acquitted. Only the second member of parliament to go on trial for his wife’s death, naturally, Wesphael’s case resulted in a media frenzy in Belgium.
Who Is Bernard Wesphael?
A former Belgian politician, Bernard Wesphael was arrested in 2013 after his wife, Véronique Pirotton, was found dead in an Ostend hotel room.
A founder of the Ecolo party—a political party aimed at green and ecological policy-making—in 1980, becoming a member of Belgium’s Provision Council in 1987. However, after becoming the leader of the Ecolo group in 2014, he left the party in 2012 to found the Left Movement, a new left-wing political party.
In November 2013, the 62-year-old was arrested over the death of his wife Véronique Pirotton, who he claimed had taken her own life in their shared hotel room.
According to Wesphael, he travelled to Ostend on the Wednesday evening to join his wife of 14 months for a two-day mini break together. Following an evening of drinking, the couple returned to the hotel room where Véronique had “a very strong seizure, a sort of delirium” during which she insulted him, fallen over a few times, tried to scratch him before calming down and going into the bathroom, at which point he goes to sleep, according to a report by La Libre. After 40 minutes, Wesphael apparently wakes up to find his wife dead, tries to resuscitate her and then goes down to the hotel reception to ask for help.
But this where the holes in his story start to appear, detectives discovered bruises on Pirotton’s body and pillow fibres on her face, as per VRT NWS, while an autopsy found that Pirroton may have died from a mixture of drugs and alcohol, but couldn’t rule out asphyxiation, whether suicidal or accidental.
Wesphael remained in custody for 10 months until August 2014, when he was released on bail. His trial took place in September 2016, where he was tried on a charge of murder, however the jury was unable to convict him beyond reasonable doubt and on October 6, he was acquitted.
Where Can We Watch Under Suspicion In Australia?
Looking for your next binge-watch? Under Suspicion: Uncovering The Wesphael Case is currently available to stream on Netflix.
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