Cecile Bombeek

Bombeek passed away in 2019 in utmost anonymity at a care center in St. Jozef, Wetteren. She died at the age of 86.

On January 16, 1978, three Apostolic Congregation nuns- Sister Pieta, Sister Franziska and Sister Godive- entered the Wetteren Police Station with allegations about Sister Godfrida's aberrant conduct as geriatrics manager. The sisters stated that they had observed Godfrida drinking to excess and provided evidence that she also frequently used morphine and cocaine. Furthermore, she also made frequent journeys to Ghent, where she dined in sumptuous restaurants and drank premium vintage wine. The three nuns also documented instances of abusive corporal punishment of their sisters within the Apostolic Congregation convent.

More seriously than this, the three nuns disclosed that Bombeek had murdered Maria van der Gunst (87), an elderly woman who suffered from diabetes and was killed through an insulin overdose which induced a severe hypoglycaemia attack. Once she had killed Mrs Van Der Gunst, Bombeek had used her money and jewelry to finance her expensive expeditions to Ghent. While an autopsy did not reveal significantly elevated levels of insulin in Mrs Van Der Gunst's body, Bombeek confessed to Van Der Gunst's murder. She had also killed Pieter Diggmann, 82, and Leon Maihofer, 78, also diabetics, with similar insulin overdoses, in 1977.

After some time in this role, Bombeek was officially accused of killing three patients – due to allegations that each was too noisy at night. However, she was suspected of murdering more than thirty of that facility's elderly residents during a two year span, between 1976 and 1978. As well as these alleged homicides, she was also accused of stealing a large sum of money from her victims, as well as suspected repeated acts of torture, ripping catheters from patients and other abusive beheaviour . Time magazine reported that Bombeek was finally apprehended through the efforts of fellow nuns who worked within the 38-bed geriatric ward and who recorded a string of mysterious deaths and other irregularities.

Cecile Bombeek (1933-2019) was a Order of Saint Joseph nun and Belgian serial killer who killed three people between 1976 to 1977. She died in 2019 at St. Jozef, Wetteren. She was 86 years old.