Jury has ruled: Bujor Puica is guilty of manslaughter, his younger brother Stefan of murder (Opwijk)

Did the Puica brothers kill Valentin-Vasile Popa (21) on June 2, 2021, or was his death a tragic fatal accident? The popular jury for the Leuven court of assizes had to answer that question. The jurors deliberated for eleven hours, but around half past nine in the evening their verdict finally came.

They decided that Bujor (29) was guilty of manslaughter and Stefan (23) of murder. The younger of the two therefore had time to reconsider his decision to kill Valentin and did not do so, the jury ruled.

Bujor also questioned whether there was premeditation, but there was a 7-5 majority. So 7 jury members voted in favor, 5 voted against. In such a case, the professional judges made the decision and joined the minority. (read more below the photo)

Discussion escalates

However, the Romanian brothers always claimed during their trial that they had not intended the death of their compatriot. “I hope Popa’s family understands that I never had the intention to kill him,” Stefan said on Tuesday morning. “I understand your pain, but I cannot bring him back. I’m sorry.”

The whole story started when the brothers found an Audi Q7 on Facebook Marketplace. Stefan wanted to buy it because it was his dream car. The brothers therefore made an appointment with Vasile C., the seller who lived in the farm on the Wraaiberg. They bought the car a day later. (read more below the photo)

But the brothers were not satisfied with their purchase, so they asked for their money back. Vasile didn’t want to give that, so that caused a discussion. This only escalated around eleven o’clock in the evening, when the brothers had called six friends to recover the car.

‘The Gang of Puica’

No one really provided clarity during the process about what exactly happened. Stones, hammers and Molotov cocktails were allegedly thrown at the house. The residents also said that one of the eight men drove into the courtyard with a Ford Galaxy and crashed into several cars there.

When the people in the farm noticed this, they came outside. According to testimonies, there were fifteen to twenty men who tried to chase away ‘the Puica gang’. With success, because the eight men fled. Bujor got into the Q7, with Stefan as a passenger alongside him.

Three collisions

Bujor was able to drive away. But when he had some distance, he suddenly stopped. He then drove backwards again, towards the crowd. Everyone was able to jump away, except Vasile who was hit. When Bujor wanted to drive forward again, he ran over the victim again with the Audi Q7.

Bujor’s lawyers always maintained that he did not deliberately hit Valentin. “He was looking for a friend who had fallen behind,” he said. But the jury does not agree with that explanation. They now ruled that Bujor hit the victim intentionally, but not premeditated. (read more below the photo)

As for Stefan, the jury ruled that he did kill Valentin Popa with premeditation and is therefore guilty of murder. The jury came to this conclusion because the younger brother took over the wheel after Bujor had already driven away several hundred meters. He accelerated again towards the group of farm residents and also rode Valentin a third time, but had enough time to reconsider that decision.

Part of association

The six friends of the Puica brothers were found guilty of being part of an association created to commit crimes. The trial continues on Thursday, and later this week the eight men will be told what punishment will follow.