Coroner: Accelerant used in fire tied to five deaths

The only adult killed, a woman, died of stab wounds.

MASON, Ohio (AP) — The burning house where a woman and her young child were found dead caught fire through the use of kerosene, gasoline or some other accelerant, a coroner said Sunday.

Three other children were pulled from Friday night’s fire but died later at a hospital. Police on Saturday charged Michel Veillette, 34, with four counts of aggravated murder, one count of murder and one count of aggravated arson.

Veillette’s wife, Nadya Ferrari-Veillette, died from multiple stab wounds, said Dr. Russell Uptegrove of the Warren County coroner’s office. He wouldn’t say how many times Ferrari-Veillette was stabbed or the location of the wounds.

Her 4-year-old son, Vincent, was probably killed through carbon monoxide poisoning due to smoke inhalation, Uptegrove said.

Further tests of clothing worn by Ferrari-Veillette and her son are being conducted to determine the type of accelerant, he said.

Causes of death for the other three children could be released in the next two days, Hamilton County Coroner O’dell Owens said. The children were between the ages of 3 and 8, police have said.

Veillette jumped out of a second-story window and was found on the ground Friday night as the house burned. He had also been stabbed and was in stable but serious condition Sunday at University Hospital in Cincinnati.

Autopsies are being divided between counties, because Ferrari-Veillette and Vincent died at the home in Warren County, while the other three children died at Bethesda North Hospital in Hamilton County.

Mason is about 20 miles northeast of Cincinnati.