Lawyers for victims of the New Year's Eve fire at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, have formally requested that charges against the bar's owners be upgraded from manslaughter to murder with possible intent. The move follows the emergence of text messages in which owner Jessica Moretti warned staff about the fire risk posed by sparklers near flammable materials.
The fire, which killed 41 people and injured 115, is believed to have started when sparklers attached to champagne bottles ignited sound-insulating foam on the ceiling. Owners Jessica and Jacques Moretti face charges including manslaughter and arson by negligence, along with 12 other suspects including local officials.
Lawyers Sophie Haenni and Ludovic Tirelli submitted the request to Valais canton prosecutors after the Morettis' cross-examination on 5 June. They presented WhatsApp messages from 2019 in which Jessica Moretti warned staff that if the carpet, sofas or ceiling foam caught fire, the bar would burn. Haenni argued this showed the owners were 'perfectly aware of the highly flammable nature of the acoustic foam' and accepted the risk, meeting the legal threshold for possible intent murder.
Under Swiss law, possible intent applies when a perpetrator considers an offence possible but acts anyway, accepting the result even if undesirable. The Morettis' lawyers dismissed the allegations as 'nonsense', noting Jessica was present at the scene on the night of the fire, which they called 'the best alibi for this absurd accusation'. They also confirmed Jessica faces a new forgery charge related to the invoice for the foam panels, which they said was simply recorded under a different name in the accounts.
