Belgian spy shoots baroness dead outside her mansion in inheritance row

A disgraced former Belgian spy has been arrested after his stepmother, a baroness who was married to a billionaire industrialist, was shot dead outside her luxury home.

Myriam Ullens de Schooten, 70, was murdered in front of her house in what appeared to be a dispute over inheritance.

A friend of the Belgian royals and an acquaintance of King Charles, the art collector and philanthropist was the second wife of Baron Guy Ullens de Schooten, 88, a multimillionaire from one of Belgium's richest families.

His son, Nicolas Ullens, 58, a former member of Belgium’s intelligence service, has been named locally as the man arrested over the alleged murder.

The ex-spy is believed to have accused his stepmother of squandering his inheritance with her lavish spending habits, according to local reports, citing judicial sources.

Ullens handed himself into police

Mr Ullens is accused of using a firearm to shoot the victim outside the home she shared with his father in Ohain, in the French-speaking region of Wallonia.

The 58-year-old opened fire at the baroness while she was sitting next to his father in a VW Golf car, according to a report by Derniere Heure newspaper.

The baron was wounded in the leg during the attack. He is currently in hospital.

Before firing the shots, Mr Ullens rammed the vehicle being driven by his stepmother.

He later handed himself into the police, confessing that he had killed his stepmother in a “family conflict”.

He has been charged with murder and weapons offences, and will appear in court on Monday.

Death threats claims were dismissed

Mr Ullens became notorious after using secret files to make allegations of corruption and money laundering against Didier Reynders, a former Belgian foreign minister who is now the country’s European Commissioner.

He accused Mr Reynders of making death threats against him but the claims were dismissed “for lack of any crime” after an investigation in 2019.

The former spy was in turn raided by the security services as officers attempted to recover the stolen and classified documents.

His father, Barron Ullens de Schooten, was reportedly worth €3 billion in 2011 after operating a number of successful business enterprises.

In 1973, he took over his family business, Raffinerie tirlemontoise, a multinational sugar producer, that was later sold to a German firm.

He later successfully reinvested in agriculture businesses and took over diet firm Weight Watchers International.

Fortune dwindled

But in recent years the baron’s fortune is said to have dwindled, according to local media reports.

He met his wife, nicknamed “Mimi” by her relatives, in 1991 and were married eight years later.

As a couple they set up the Ullens school, which has educated thousands of Nepalese children, in 1992.

After surviving breast cancer in 2003, the baroness opened the Mimi Ullens Foundation to offer psychological support to cancer patients in Belgium, France and Switzerland.

She helped fund her charitable work alongside her husband with the sale of a successful pasty shop on Brussels’ famous Avenue Louise.

They were also both collectors of Chinese art and more recently digital works by upcoming artists.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium were frequent guests at the couple’s Swiss ski chalet.

In 2015, the Queen wore a dress from a fashion label formed by the baroness during a state visit to China.