This 36 -year -old man born in Romania will be tried on October 7. By then, it must be the subject of psychiatric expertise.
Valentin I., a 36-year-old man born in Romania suspected of having burned the Notre-Dame des Champs church (Paris 6th), was placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday, July 29, learned Le Figaro by the Paris prosecutor’s office. The decision was made during an immediate appearance hearing.
The mental state of the suspect questions. This is why the criminal court ordered psychiatric expertise and returned the case to October 7, the prosecution said to us. If Valentin I. is considered to be “Accessible to a criminal sanction”he will be tried to “Degradation by dangerous means”an offense making, in theory, to incur a sentence of 10 years in prison.
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The suspect, homeless, had been arrested thanks to the exploitation of video surveillance following two successive fire starts in the Notre-Dame des Champs church, located at 91 Boulevard du Montparnasse (Paris 6th).
2 to 3 million euros in damage
Thursday, July 24, the fire had declared itself at the Statue of the Saint-Joseph Chapel before spreading to wooden panels and a recently renovated canvas. The firefighters had quickly controlled the fire and there had been no injured.
The day before, a first start of fire had been noted at the level of a choir organ, completely destroyed. The electricity had then been cut and the doors of the church left open to allow smoke and the smell of escaping. The damage is evaluated by the town hall of Paris and the diocese to a sum between 2 and 3 million euros, specifies the Paris prosecutor’s office.
If the criminal nature of the second fire is hardly in doubt, the first fire would, according to the first elements of the investigation, linked to the conflagration of an electrical circuit failing from the choir organ. The succession of the two claims, just a few hours apart, nevertheless has something to challenge.