French factory worker and arsonist, arrested 2/04/1996 less than an hour after setting a fire. The police apprehended him while he was dumping smoldering synthetic fabric into a neighbor’s baby buggy. He claimed credit for setting 19 fires, the first 11/29/1994, arson that cost people their lives. A fire that he set on 1/20/1996, 8:00 PM, killed his aunt and a fireman.
Raffin was unable to justify his actions when questioned. His method of destruction was to take a rag, soak it with aerosol solvent. The rag would smokelessly burn for 45 minutes; then catch fire and completely destroy the rag as evidence. All of his victims were people he knew; either relatives or neighbors.
Raffin was an introverted man, living in the same bedroom of his parents house of over 35 years; unmarried, no friends and no social life. His large noted fires of destruction are as follows:
1994- Nov. 29th against a farmer; his first arson.
1995- Aug. 11th 10:31 AM against the same farmer
Nov. 4th against his uncle, J.P. Raffin
1996- Jan. 01 against another farmer
Jan. 07 3:00 PM against his parents
Jan. 09 9:00 PM against his parents
Jan. 11 against a neighbor
Jan. 12 two fires-against his great-aunt, Antoinette
Vuillot and another neighbor
Jan. 13 two fires-against Antoinette Vuillot and
J.P. Raffin
Jan. 20 two fires-1:30 PM & 8:00 PM killing Annie
Raffin and a fireman at the 8:00 PM fire
Feb. 03 against his parents
Feb. 04 8:00 PM in a storage building for cycles
Raffin was sentenced on 11/14/1997 to served 12 years in prison. He never revealed the reasons of his criminal acts.