A woman previously convicted of killing her bedridden grandfather by setting his mattress on fire is back on trial in France, where she now faces the possibility of life imprisonment following a prosecution appeal against what was considered a lenient sentence.
The 95-year-old man died in August 2020 from severe burns and smoke inhalation while in his bed.
33-year-old Emilie G. admitted to ending her grandfather’s life, describing it as “an act of love” aimed at relieving his suffering.
In October 2024, a court found her guilty and handed down a five-year suspended sentence. Prosecutors, however, challenged the ruling, calling it too mild for what they described as a “cruel and selfish act”.
The appeal trial began on Monday in Bourg-en-Bresse, located in eastern France, and Emilie G. now faces a life sentence.
During the original proceedings, Emilie G., who was reportedly dealing with depression, testified that the strain of caring for her elderly grandfather, parenting her children, and experiencing relationship troubles became too much.
On the day she learned her partner had been unfaithful, she doused her grandfather’s mattress with gasoline and ignited it by throwing a burning sheet of paper onto the bed, then fled.
At the first trial, prosecutor Romain Ducrocq argued that the act was committed so that Emilie G. could “exorcise her frustration and multiple failures”.
But she maintained her motive was to bring an end to her grandfather’s suffering. She claimed he had asked her multiple times to end his life, particularly after she once found him lying in his own waste. She did not share this with other family members.
“The bond between this granddaughter and her grandfather was extremely close,” stated her attorney Thibaud Claus, noting that there were “no debt, no inheritance” as possible motives.
“It was an act of love,” he reiterated before the appeal hearings, which are scheduled to continue until Wednesday.
“She realises in hindsight that she shouldn’t have done it, and not in this way, but at the time, she didn’t have the strength to do anything else,” Claus told AFP.
– ‘Desperate situation’ –
Her family has continued to support her, saying she acted with courage in a difficult moment.
A psychiatric evaluation concluded that Emilie G. was in a “dissociative state” when the incident occurred, which “impair her judgment”.
The appeal follows recent legislative developments in France, where the lower house of parliament passed a right-to-die bill in late May, fueling fresh public debate about assisted dying.
If the lower and upper houses align on the bill, it could allow patients, under defined conditions, to receive medical help to end their lives.
Her lawyer clarified that the trial isn’t meant to promote euthanasia but highlights a situation where a family saw no viable alternatives.
“We are not advocating euthanasia,” Claus said.
“But it’s important to recognise that this is indeed a case of euthanasia by a family who, in a desperate situation, did what they could — though not necessarily with the right solutions.”
If enacted, the legislation would place France among a handful of European nations — including Germany, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland — that permit assisted dying.
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