Belgian star clown Kevin Lapeire, accused of stabbing ex-girlfriend to death, live-streams rooftop police stand-off
Lapeire, who appeared on ‘Belgium’s Got Talent’, has been arrested after the stand-off, during which he waved a pistol and threw a gas canister at police
One of Belgium’s leading children’s entertainers broadcast himself live on Facebook during a rooftop stand-off with armed police before being arrested over the alleged murder of his former girlfriend.
Kevin Lapeire, who appeared on Belgium’s Got Talent and won an award for the best clown in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, waved a pistol and threw a gas canister at police before finally surrendering.
The 31-year-old, who entertained children in hospitals under the pseudonym Doctor Aspirin and managed the careers of 15 other entertainers, had separated from his partner a few days before. She was named in local media only as Caroline D, 47.
Lapeire – one of only five professional clowns in Belgium – is alleged to have visited the family home in Oudenburg, a town between Ostend and Bruges, on Sunday night, which was Mother’s Day in Belgium.
He allegedly tied up and gagged Caroline D’s children, aged 12, 15 and 17, and left them in an attic before killing their mother in the garage with a knife, according to Belgian news reports.
Officials at the children’s school were not aware of anything untoward on Monday morning as Lapeire reportedly had called in to say they would be late. He had also sent a text to his former partner’s employer.
On Monday afternoon, Lapeire was spotted on top of a 13-storey apartment building in Bredene, close to his parents’ home, waving a pistol.
He broadcast himself on Facebook Live as he threw a gas canister from the roof, and starting firing into the sky.
Lapeire surrendered four hours later to police snipers, throwing down his coat, pulling his sweater over his head and placing his hands in the air.
