Woman on Trial in France Faces 15 Years for Setting Grandfather Ablaze

French prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a 15-year prison sentence for 33-year-old Emilie G., who admitted to setting her bedridden grandfather on fire in what she originally described as a mercy killing.

The appeal, heard at the Ain Assize Court in Bourg-en-Bresse, comes after a lower court controversially handed Emilie a five-year suspended sentence in October 2024 a verdict that prosecutors deemed far too lenient given the brutality of the act.

Emilie, who had confessed to dousing the 95-year-old man’s mattress with gasoline and igniting it with a burning sheet of paper, claimed she was trying to end his suffering. Her grandfather died from severe burns and smoke inhalation in August 2020.

“This was not an act of love,” prosecutor Eric Mazaud told the court on Wednesday. “When you love someone, you don’t burn them.”

The initial trial heard that Emilie was overwhelmed by her responsibilities raising her children, caring for her ailing grandfather, and coping with a deteriorating romantic relationship. On the day of the killing, her partner had confessed to infidelity, a revelation that prosecutors argue pushed her over the edge.

During this week’s appeal, Emilie expressed remorse but struggled to explain her method of execution. “He did not have a death worthy of his life… fire is atrocious, it is inhuman,” she told the court, visibly shaken.

Despite her claims that her grandfather had begged her to end his life even after she discovered him lying in his own waste she never communicated these alleged requests to the rest of the family. A psychiatric evaluation later revealed that Emilie was in a “dissociative state” at the time of the incident, which likely impaired her judgment.

While prosecutors painted a picture of a woman driven to violence by accumulated frustration and emotional breakdown, Emilie’s family has stood by her, describing her act as one of courage and compassion.

“She viewed him as a father figure,” her defense maintained, stressing that her intention was not cruelty but relief from suffering.

A final verdict on the appeal is expected later today.