Roland W. placed in detention before 7 July trial — Emile
emile moved back into the courtroom Monday, when a judge ordered Roland W. into pre-trial detention after the 78-year-old was suspected of trying to set fire to the Vedovini family’s secondary home in Le Vernet. He is due before the criminal court of Digne-les-Bains on 7 July.
The prosecutor of the Republic of Digne-les-Bains, Antoine Pesme, asked for detention on Monday morning, citing "compte tenu du risque de réitération et de la non-reconnaissance des faits". The case is being handled as a delayed appearance for damage to another person's property by a dangerous means, an offense that carries up to 10 years in prison and a 150,000-euro fine.
Le Vernet fire allegation
Roland W. is suspected of acting in the night of 15 to 16 May. Police say he went alone to Le Vernet at the end of the previous week with "l’envie de mener son enquête" and broke into the secondary residence of Philippe and Anne Vedovini. He disputes having caused the beginnings of the fire observed by the gendarmes.
During police custody, Roland W. said he had no personal link with the people involved in the Émile case. He also said he believed Émile's maternal grandparents were necessarily responsible for what justice has treated since March 2025 as a voluntary homicide. A psychiatric evaluation found no alteration or abolition of his discernment, although the prosecutor requested a counter-expertise after he made incoherent, confused, or sometimes delusional remarks.
Vedovini complaint in Digne-les-Bains
Anne and Philippe Vedovini filed a complaint on Saturday after the suspected arson attempt at their house. The couple had already been placed in police custody in March 2025, along with two of their children, in the investigation into their grandson's death, and were later released without any judicial proceedings. Their names now sit at the center of two separate procedural tracks: the homicide investigation tied to Émile and the new fire case against Roland W.
Émile Soleil disappeared in the commune of Le Vernet on 8 July 2023, and some of his remains were found nine months later. That history is why the May fire allegation is being read through the same file, even as the immediate legal issue is narrower: whether Roland W. tried to damage the Vedovini property by dangerous means.
July 7 trial in Digne-les-Bains
Roland W.'s detention means he will remain in custody before his 7 July appearance before the criminal court of Digne-les-Bains. The next fixed step is that trial, where the court will examine both the fire allegation and the custody findings already placed on the record, including the prosecutor's request and the psychiatric assessment.
