Child Murder Case Overshadowed 1953 Summer

The summer of 1953 was overshadowed by a monstrous child murder in the southern Limburg village of Engelmanshoven. The killing of Poldinneke, the nickname for 10-year-old Leopoldine Vansimpsen, stunned the country, as did the cold-bloodedness of her killer.

On Wednesday, July 22, 1953, panic erupted in the quiet village of Engelmanshoven. Poldinneke had been staying with her grandfather, Victor Vanstapel, who ran a small farm. When the farmer went to his fields, Poldinneke vanished without a trace. The judicial police were immediately alerted. In the following days, the gendarmerie and helpful villagers scoured the surrounding fields. Search dogs were deployed, and even a clairvoyant made an appearance.

The police took a witness tip seriously: Poldinneke had been seen entering the house of neighbor Victorine Bergans. Bergans, a 38-year-old woman living with her elderly father, was known to help out at Vanstapel's home. He had been a widower for a long time. A search of Bergans' house yielded no sign of the missing girl. However, for the residents of Engelmanshoven, it was clear: Bergans was involved. They already distrusted her due to her wartime collaboration in Germany and her perceived excessive friendliness with German soldiers. She had also allegedly informed on her sister-in-law to the occupiers, leading to a 5-year prison sentence.

Engelmanshoven was shocked again six days after the disappearance when Poldinneke's body was found in a 28-meter-deep well in an orchard. Victorine Bergans was interrogated all night at the Sint-Truiden town hall. As Bergans was led away, crowds gathered around the building. In June 1956, after a dramatic trial where the use of a truth serum was even considered, Bergans was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor. Her motive stemmed from a deep hatred for Poldinneke's mother, who had opposed Bergans' relationship with the grandfather, Victor Vanstapel. Bergans also claimed she was forced to have an abortion and wanted the child's mother to experience the same loss. Grandfather Vanstapel and the woman who performed the abortion were acquitted.