Myriam’s mother does not have the strength to face the trial which opens on Monday before the Paris Assize Court. Only the father of this 23-year-old chartered accountant, who died in the fire in the building on rue Erlanger (16th) in February 2019, will come to testify at the bar. “He is calm. He has the will to speak up to say who she was and how proud he was of her, ”explains to 20 minutes his parents’ lawyer, Me Manuel Abitbol. While waiting for his turn, Myriam’s father will take his place on the benches of the civil parties, alongside the relatives of the nine other victims who lost their lives in this fire, the deadliest in the capital since August 2005.
“My clients are also waiting for explanations concerning the psychiatric state” of the accused, indicates for her part Me Deborah Meier-Mimran, who represents around twenty civil parties. In the box, Essia Boulares, 44, is tried for “destruction by fire likely to create a danger for people, destruction by fire of property, destruction by fire causing death and destruction by fire causing injury”. This woman with psychiatric disorders is accused of having set fire to the 8-storey building in which she lived after arguing with neighbors on the night of February 4 to 5, 2019.
“Calm and courteous”
That evening, shortly after midnight, the couple who live on the second floor ask her to lower the volume of the music she is listening to. She refuses, insults them, is aggressive. So Quentin L. calls the police three times. A Bac patrol went there at 12:13 a.m. Facing them, this woman does not seem to be in the midst of a psychological crisis, although she is making incoherent remarks. She spontaneously tells them that she is coming out of the psychiatric hospital. But they do not consider it necessary to take her away because she seems to them “calm and courteous”, they will say later. The officials leave at 12:37 a.m. after driving Essia B. to her home. They advise his neighbors to spend the night elsewhere and to contact the trustee to manage the problem.
Quentin L. however meets Essia B. again a quarter of an hour later on the stairs, on the 1st floor. Far from being appeased, she says to this firefighter by profession: “Look me in the eyes, you who love flames, it will make you very funny when everything is going to explode. Me personally, I’m broke. The fire broke out on the 2nd floor. In their indictment order, seen by 20 minutes, the investigating judges explain that the forties “positioned a piece of wood, a cloth and pieces of paper” at the foot of her neighbor’s door and set it on fire with a lighter, before to run away. The flames ravage the building. The sleeping inhabitants are trapped. Three lose their lives by jumping out of the window. Seven other bodies would later be found charred in the rubble.
“I should never have left Sainte-Anne”
Essia Boulares was arrested by a police patrol near rue Erlanger as she tried to set fire to a trash can and a car. Placed in police custody, she was examined in the forensic emergency room. Doctors note that this mother of a 10-year-old child has “manifest mental disorders”. In addition, she is positive for alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine. They consider that she represents “an imminent danger” for her and for the others and decide to place her in the psychiatric infirmary of the police headquarters.
A few days before the tragedy, Essia was released from Sainte-Anne psychiatric hospital, where she remained for twelve days. She made 13 stays there between 2009 and 2019. “I should have been kept, I was still delusional in my head, she explained to investigators in June 2020. I think I should never have left Sainte-Anne but afterwards, I am not a doctor. On the day of the events, she had felt lost and sad, for no reason. She was, she assured, “still delusional”. “I was in a psychotic state, I took myself for the messiah, in delirium of persecution. I set the fire to annoy my neighbor, without thinking of the consequences. »
“borderline personality”
But the experts who have examined it are not quite of the same opinion. They believe that his psychiatric disorders have “altered”, and not abolished, his discernment. Even if they emphasize in their report the “borderline personality” of the suspect, they exclude “behaviour induced by hallucinations or delusional activity”. According to them, the facts can be “related to impulsiveness, intolerance to frustrations and the effect of alcohol consumption”. Their conclusion: Essia Boulares is accessible to criminal sanction.
“My clients are waiting for the doctors who were able to follow her before the facts to explain to us why her compulsory hospitalization ended, they need to understand”, underlines Me Deborah Meier-Mimran. But also to know “why the experts considered that her behavior was altered and not abolished, how she stands, four years after the facts, in the face of the psychiatric illness and in the face of her consumption of narcotics, in particular cannabis”.
Essia Boulares faces life imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros. Contacted by 20 minuteshis lawyer, Me Sébastien Schapira, could not be reached.