Lawyers representing victims of the deadly New Year's Eve fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana have formally requested that prosecutors upgrade charges against the bar's owners from manslaughter to murder with possible intent. The move follows the emergence of text messages in which the owners discussed the risk of fire.
The blaze at Le Constellation bar killed 41 people and injured 115. Investigators believe it started when sparklers attached to champagne bottles ignited sound-insulating foam on the ceiling. Owners Jessica and Jacques Moretti face charges including manslaughter by negligence and arson by negligence.
Lawyers Sophie Haenni and Ludovic Tirelli submitted the request after the couple's latest cross-examination, during which they were confronted with WhatsApp messages from 2019. In those messages, Jessica Moretti warned staff to be careful with sparklers, stating that if the carpet, sofas or ceiling foam caught fire, the bar would burn.
Haenni, representing the family of an employee who died, said the messages showed the Morettis were "perfectly aware of the highly flammable nature of the acoustic foam" and accepted the risk. Under Swiss law, "possible intent" applies when a perpetrator considers an offence possible but acts anyway, accepting the result even if undesirable.
The couple's lawyers dismissed the allegations as "nonsense", arguing that Jessica's presence at the scene on the night of the tragedy was "the best alibi" against the accusation. They also confirmed that Jessica faces a new charge of forgery relating to the invoice for the foam panels, which they said was simply recorded under a different name and irrelevant to the case.
