“If she did it, it could only be out of love.” Since August 23, 2020, Clara* has never denied having killed her 95-year-old grandfather, at the end of his life. But the 32-year-old young woman claims to have acted to reduce the suffering of the one she loved “with all her heart”, according to her lawyer. It will be up to the Lyon Assize Court to judge, during the young woman's trial for "voluntary homicide in her ascendant", scheduled for fall 2024.
This summer evening, in a house in the Lyon region, the 95-year-old old man is discovered lifeless, on his medical bed, by his daughter. His body is burned. The room is filled with smoke. It won't take long for investigators to realize that someone set the old man's mattress on fire. It doesn't take long either to discover that the author is none other than Clara, his granddaughter.
“They almost had a father-daughter relationship”
A gesture that the thirty-year-old admitted to the investigating judge. Because for several years, his grandfather, staying with his parents, has been at the end of his life. The 95-year-old man became bedridden and completely dependent. He is bedridden, fed by tube and wears a diaper. Three caregivers take turns daily to take care of him.
An extremely difficult situation for Clara, explains her lawyer, Me Thibaud Claus, to Le Parisien: “She was extremely close to him, she came to see him three times a week. The whole family says she was the closest, that they almost had a father-daughter relationship.”
But for some time now, the old man has been telling his granddaughter “that he doesn’t want to wake up again”. “Normally, he is a complainer, say the auxiliaries, but he no longer even had the strength to complain according to them,” relates Clara's advice.
This August 23, 2020, to “help” her grandfather, Clara sets fire to his mattress. “It was not a planned decision,” says the lawyer, “it happened at a time when she no longer had the strength to say no to him.”
“She is aware that she should not have done it”
After admitting the facts, the thirty-year-old was indicted in October 2020 for “voluntary homicide by ascendant”. “The criminal classification cannot be criticized,” explains Me Thibaut Claus, recalling that his client has never denied the facts.
The young woman, “an everyday lady with a clean criminal record”, is in very bad shape, according to her lawyer. “She loved him with all her heart, the whole family agrees with that. She realizes that she shouldn't have done it, not in that way. But if she did it, it could only be out of love, to help him,” he explains.
A symbol of the complexity of end-of-life issues, since her indictment, Clara has “not spent a single day in detention,” says her lawyer. The young person was placed under judicial supervision with, initially, a ban on contacting her relatives.
His judicial review was reduced this Tuesday, April 16. The young woman is now allowed to see her family, “who support her”, says her lawyer. “I do not know of a single case in France of recognized murder where the person is under judicial control,” adds Me Thibaut Claus.
“This is not an activist trial”
“This is not a caricature file, it is a human file. He asked her to end her suffering. She was dedicated. But in hindsight, she regrets the means. It’s the whole nuance of the end of life,” says Me Thibaut Claus.
A trial which comes at a time when the government recently sent its end-of-life bill to the Council of State, to establish strictly regulated “assisted dying” in France.
But Me Thibaut Claus wants to emphasize that this is not “an activist trial”. “We are in the news, in an end-of-life issue, a dramatic issue. She did what she could, with her personal resources, for someone she considered her father,” the council concludes.
*The first name has been changed.