A woman suspected of having set fire to her companion's house, in which her two grandchildren, aged 10 and 12, were also found, was indicted and imprisoned on Wednesday evening, we learned from the parquet of Mont-de-Marsan. 

A 59-year-old woman was indicted and imprisoned Wednesday evening for having tried to murder her two-grandchildren and her companion in the arson of a house in Habas (Landes), we learned from of the parquet floor of Mont-de-Marsan.

She is suspected of having set fire to her companion's pavilion on the night of April 14 to 15, in which her two grandchildren, aged 10 and 12, were also located, having previously made them ingest medicines for put them to sleep.

"Different elements" suggesting "a premeditated gesture"

The four occupants of the house, poisoned and evacuated to the Bordeaux hospital center, are now out of danger and have been able to leave this hospital. "The day after (the fire), various elements suggested a premeditated act, with several outbreaks of fire in circumstances which indicated that it was one of the people living in the home who was at the origin of the sinister ", explained to an AFP correspondent the prosecutor of Mont-de-Marsan Olivier Janson. "It has also been established that the defendant was able to use drugs to put the three victims to sleep," he added.

Placed in police custody on Monday given these elements, she has so far only been able to provide "extremely vague explanations," said the magistrate.

According to the prosecutor, "the house was equipped with a smoke detector connected to a surveillance company which began by trying to reach the companion without succeeding because he had already lost consciousness".

But another member of the family was able to be contacted and intervene at the same time as the firefighters, also alerted.

"If it had not been for this alarm system and the rapid intervention of the emergency services, we would no longer be talking about an assassination attempt to this day," said Olivier Janson.

"She did not admit the facts", according to her lawyer

According to the newspaper

Sud Ouest

citing relatives of the companion, the latter is a 65-year-old mechanic with a leg amputated after a professional accident. The suspect is a cleaning lady and her two grandchildren live in the neighboring department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. "She did not recognize the facts", told

Sud Ouest

Me Lucie Chimits, the lawyer who assisted her in police custody.