A top executive at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company who earned nearly $5 million in annual compensation is no longer with the firm after Belgian authorities arrested his mistress for allegedly stabbing his wife to death.
Chris Delaney, who held the title of president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region at Akron,Ohio-based Goodyear since he was promoted the post in 2017, is no longer employed by the tiremaker, the company told the Wall Street Journal over the weekend.
Delaney’s alleged lover, a married Belgian woman named Greet Vandeput, was his executive assistant at Goodyear. She, too, is no longer with the company, according to the Journal.
Chris Delaney returned to his apartment in an upscale part of Brussels after work on March 17 and found his wife, Carmel Delaney, dead on the floor after having suffered at least four stab wounds, the Journal reported.
Since Chris Delaney does not speak French, he telephoned Vandeput, who then alerted police, according to the Journal.
Initially, authorities and local media believed Carmel’s death might have resulted from a botched burglary.
Surveillance cameras had captured someone in a mask entering the building shortly before Carmel arrived home that evening, according to police.
Although there were no indications of forced entry, investigators noted that three high-end watches had vanished from the apartment.
Two days after Carmel Delaney was buried in an upstate New York funeral on April 2, Belgian police arrested Vandeput.
It was during the course of the investigation that authorities discovered Chris Delaney and Vandeput, who is also married, were having an affair, according to the Journal.
Vandeput was charged with murder and “port d’arme par destination,” a legal term in Belgium referring to the use of an improvised weapon.
An autopsy revealed that Carmel had been stabbed four times in the chest and torso.
A breakthrough in the case came after a friend of Vandeput’s came forward with concerns following a conversation between them.
Acting on the tip, police searched both Vandeput’s home and a nearby horse stable where she kept two horses. There, behind a corrugated metal shed in a paddock, they found the missing watches, according to the Journal.
Chris Delaney has been questioned by police as a witness but has not been charged.
A spokesperson for Goodyear told the Journal the company would cooperate with authorities if asked. Neither Delaney nor Vandeput remains employed by the tiremaker and Delaney received no severance.
“We decline to comment further,” the company said.
Carmel Delaney, a Queens, NY, native, built a successful marketing career having worked in Europe and the Middle East for multinational giant Procter & Gamble.
Vandeput had worked at Goodyear for more than a decade, following earlier roles at AstraZeneca and Siemens. She lived just outside Brussels in a modest brick home with her husband, two dogs, and a chicken coop.
Like Carmel, she had a passion for horses and was reportedly recovering from breast cancer surgery at the time of her arrest.
Chris and Carmel had relocated to Brussels in 2017, their final overseas stop after a whirlwind life abroad. Chris oversaw Goodyear’s operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Carmel, meanwhile, ran a consultancy helping international students apply to US schools.
Friends described the couple as close, charismatic, and generous. They met while working at Procter & Gamble and moved between countries together — from Poland to Saudi Arabia to China.
“What I know is that they loved each other dearly and he did not want anything to happen to Carmel,” James Lafferty, a longtime friend and former colleague, told the Journal.
Photos on Carmel’s online memorial show a full life: skiing trips, boat dinners, and afternoons with grandchildren. In one image, the couple smiles aboard a train — Chris in a blue V-neck sweater, Carmel wearing a matching scarf.
The caption reads, “Carmel & Chris the dream team xx.”
Chris has since returned to the United States, and Carmel’s friends in Brussels are planning a memorial for June.
On her online tribute page, one mourner shared an Irish epitaph: “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.”
Carmel Delaney was 61 at the time of her death. She is survived by her father, Jim Gallagher; her husband; and their four children.
