A husband has been accused of pushing his influencer wife from a cliff after claiming she fell while taking a photo.
Zoë Snoeks, 33, plunged around 100ft to her death during a trip with her husband.
Joeri Janssen has always maintained that she accidentally fell while taking pictures and that he was distracted by their dogs at the time.
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He claimed he turned around and suddenly realised Zoë had disappeared, saying he did not hear her scream.
But prosecutors now believe she was deliberately pushed and want Joeri to face an Assize Court trial for murder.
The case centres on the couple’s visit to a rocky outcrop in Nadrin, Belgium, on 2 November, 2021.
Zoë was taking pictures when she fell around 30 metres from the rock near the Ourthe River and died at the scene.
A walker told investigators they heard a scream, but Joeri denied hearing anything.
Investigators also discovered that Joeri tried to delete footage from Zoë’s phone after her death and contacted professionals about recovering it.
He did not immediately alert the emergency services and investigators also questioned his route to reach Zoë after the fall.
A lie-detector test reportedly indicated he was lying when questioned about the circumstances, although such tests are not evidence of guilt.
The death was initially treated as an accident, but Zoë’s parents repeatedly challenged that conclusion and called for further investigation.
Joeri was arrested in October 2023 on suspicion of murder and spent around a year in custody before being released under conditions.
He continues to deny murdering his wife and insists she fell accidentally, as reported by Need To Know.
A new sound test carried out during the investigation concluded that Zoë’s scream would have been audible.
The Antwerp public prosecutor’s office is seeking to send Joeri to the Assize Court, where a jury would hear the murder case.
Zoë’s father Luc Snoeks said the test had backed up the family’s theory, saying: “We have been proved right.”
The additional investigation has now been completed and the case is due before the Turnhout council chamber on 27 October.
Joeri’s lawyer Jan Swennen has described the prosecution case as based on “one-sided assumptions” that are not supported by the criminal file.
The final decision on whether Joeri will face an Assize Court trial has yet to be made.
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