A psychiatrist who treated in Ibiza the woman accused of causing the deadly fire in ses Païsses in which an elderly man died on August 3, 2023 had already expressed suspicions about her relationship with a previous fire, according to a doctor who testified Tuesday before the jury at the Provincial Court of Palma.
These revelations come in a process where family testimonies have also been heard describing a climate of tension prior to the incident, including the warning of the deceased’s daughter, who described the defendant as a person whose presence seriously altered the family’s coexistence.
The psychiatrist explained that the suspicion came to her through a colleague at the Can Misses Hospital, where the accused had been treated some time before. The doctor told her about the possibility that the woman was involved in a previous fire, which, she said, she could not verify for herself but which she considered relevant when the events of August 2023 took place. The statement was incorporated into the session as part of the clinical and family context of the case.
The victim’s son was in the hospital the night of the fire.
The witness detailed that during the early morning of the fire, between August 2 and 3, 2023, the son of the deceased elderly man -partner of the accused- remained in the psychiatric unit, which would have left the two elderly people alone in the house of ses Païsses. According to his professional assessment, the son was in a state of significant psychological vulnerability, an element that the family had already put on the table in previous sessions of the trial.
In these interventions, reference was made to a previous suicide attempt by the victim’s son and to behaviors that had generated concern in the immediate environment. The daughter of the deceased related in her statement that, since the defendant appeared in the life of her family, there were episodes of great tension, going so far as to affirm that “since she entered our lives, my brother tried to take his own life and my father was murdered”. This family perception is part of the story that the court is examining today, although it does not constitute direct evidence of the authorship of the fire.
The woman cared for the elderly couple
According to the prosecution, the woman took care of the elderly couple and had regular access to the house. The Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that
The investigators described that the house was left “as if a bomb had fallen”, an expression used by a relative during the process to illustrate the extent of the flames and the collapse of the interior. The structure of the house was severely damaged, hindering rescue efforts and the subsequent reconstruction of what happened.
The Prosecutor’s Office asks for revisable permanent imprisonment
The accused is charged with one count of murder and one count of arson, for which the prosecution is seeking revisable permanent imprisonment, the highest penalty under Spanish law. The prosecution argues that the evidence, the family context and the degree of dependence of the victim give strength to the thesis of a deliberate act, while the defense insists on the absence of conclusive material evidence.
During these first days of the trial, several witnesses have coincided in describing a coexistence marked by episodes of tension, as well as behaviors of the accused that caused them concern. Among them, the reference to her habit of handling matches, a detail pointed out by family members who, as they explained, drew their attention days before the fire.
