A 56 year old Belgianwho was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 after she slaughtered all five of her children, was submitted on Tuesday in euthanasiaon the 16th anniversary of the murders, after which she had attempted to end her life.

This information, which was broadcast by the French-language media Sudinfo, was confirmed to Agence France-Presse by Nicolas Cohen, Genevieve Lhermitt’s lawyer. In 2019, Lhermit was paroled to be admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

A 2002 law in Belgium allows medically assisted euthanasia to end a person’s physical or mental suffering if their condition is deemed “unbearable and persistent”. The patient, minor or adult, must be aware of what he is asking for, must “repeatedly” formulate his request and his health condition must be considered “impasse”.

“This particular procedure was followed by Ms. Lhermitt, gathering various medical opinions,” Cohen said, confirming that the euthanasia took place on Tuesday, February 28.

On February 28, 2007, Genevieve Lhermitt, a mother and homemaker with a white criminal record, beheaded and then slaughtered her son and four daughters – the children ranged in age from 3 to 14. The quintuple murder took place inside the family’s home in Nivelles, Belgium. The husband and father of the children was away on a trip.

Lhermite then attempted suicide: she was stabbed, but survived.

According to a psychologist interviewed today by the RTL-TVI television channel, Genevieve Lhermitte chose to die on February 28 by making “a symbolic gesture towards her children”.

– “Finish what he started” –

“It was maybe her way of finishing what she started because she basically wanted to die when she killed them,” commented psychologist Emily Marois.

The crime, on which the award-winning film Beyond Reason by Joachim Lafos was based, caused horror in Belgium. The Lhermite trial in 2008 also had a big impact. The defendant tried to prove, in vain, that she was mentally ill in order to avoid prison. The proceedings developed into a “battle” of experts, but the jurors were not convinced: they considered that Lhermit acted consciously and premeditated and could not be considered mentally disturbed.

After being sentenced to life in prison, Lhermit sued her former psychiatrist in 2010, demanding 3 million euros in damages for failing to prevent the foretold tragedy. Ten years later, however, he abandoned the legal battle, without having been vindicated.

Last year there were 2,966 euthanasias in Belgium (an increase of 9.85% compared to 2021), however in most cases the patients faced multiple physical and mental problems.