A Belgian prosecutor today accused Hungarian-born pastor Mr Andras Pandy of acting like God in deciding to kill two of his wives and four of his children.
|
|
Andras Pandy being led into court
|
Prosecutor-General Alain Winants urged a jury to convict Mr Pandy (74) of murdering the six in the late 1980s and dismissed the Protestant minister's claim that they are still alive somewhere in Hungary.
Mr Pandy had acted as a God, in every sense of the word, who decided on matters of life and death, Mr Winants told the court in his closing statement at the two-week-old trial.
"Andras Pandy has reached such a level of virtuosity when it comes to lying that one can really speak of a form of art in his case," Mr Winants said.
|
The court was earlier told that Mr Pandy and his oldest daughter Agnes (44) had used hammers and a gun to slay the six victims, then sliced up their corpses with a knife and dissolved the remains in acid.
The murders are alleged to have taken place in Belgium but the bodies were never recovered.
"I ask you to find both Andras and Agnes guilty of the charges, as perpetrator or co-perpetrator," Mr Winants told the jury members.
Nicknamed the diabolical pastor by Belgian media, Mr Pandy was arrested in Brussels in 1997 and questioned about the mysterious disappearance of his relatives. Agnes Pandy confessed to the crimes in November 1997 but told the court her father had left her no choice.
However, Mr Winants said there had been other options open to her, although he accepted the jury might wish to make a distinction between father and daughter in terms of sentence.
Mr Pandy told the court that his missing family members were alive and well in Hungary.
The verdict is expected on Tuesday evening or Wednesday.