Mother acquitted over strangling drug addict

30 September 2004

BRUSSELS – A mother has been acquitted by a Liege court for killing her 18-year-old drug-addict son in 1999.

Yvette Rigo, 59, will not go to jail for strangling her son with an electrical cable and then suffocating him by putting a plastic bag over his head.

Rigo said she could no longer stand her son’s or her own suffering when she decided to end his life.

The prosecution protested the verdict of the jurors, describing her actions as pre-meditated murder.

Rigo herself said she did not expect to be acquitted.

“I was ready to go to jail for what I had done. I sincerely regret it. I just couldn’t take it any more,” she said after the verdict.

The incident took place on 16 August 1999 when Rigo’s son Samy fell asleep after consuming a large quantity of medicines.

Rigo believed her son was dead after she strangled him with the electrical wire and she put a plastic bag over his head while she transported his body to the Ferrieres region.

It was during the journey that Samy died of suffocation.

The jury of six men and six women found by a majority that Rigo was not guilty.

Subject: Belgian news