Voltaire certifies that on 4 January, Benoit Brochut, a carpenter’s boy at the Château de Ferney, stated that he was fetched on 28 December 1761 by Ancian who took him with several others to the house of Madame Burdet where the murder was committed. The boy was asked to sign this declaration and said that he could not write, but instead made his mark in the presence of witnesses. This declaration was sent to Vachat. Voltaire then goes on to discuss a previous case concerning Ancian in which Ancian was brought to trial for assaulting Vuaillet. He further certifies that Ancian had struck Gabriel Guet and his mother with a stick, and that the declaration concering this assault was signed in the presence of witnesses and given to Vuaillet. Another victim, Françoise Ferrou, claimed to have been beaten with sticks at the door of the Church of Colles on Easter day by Ancian, and Voltaire goes on to certify that Madame Burdet came to Ferney on 4 January with bruised cheeks which she said in the presence of witness had been given to her by Ancian. Voltaire concludes with a bid for justice, speaking of the fear in the neighbourhood of having a hot-headed and guilty man on their doorstep.