Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Cops launch new probe over Alps murder mystery
Brits massacre road is sealed off
POLICE have sealed off part of an Alpine forest where a British family died in a gun attack nine years ago.
In yesterday’s dramatic development, magistrates accompanied by forensic officers cordoned off the road and surrounding woodland near Lake Annecy in Southern France.
A source said they were “examining inconsistencies in the testaments of witnesses” linked to the unsolved murders.
Their work was carried out in strict secrecy with all traffic, including overflying aircraft, banned by court order.
Asked if a reconstruction was taking place, the source said: “Not technically. It’s more a chance for the team to get familiar with the scene.”
Surrey businessman Saad al-hilli, 50, his dentist wife Iqbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al-allaf, 74, were gunned down in their BMW car on September 5, 2012. French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, also died after being shot seven times at point-blank range.
The Al-hillis’ daughter, Zeena, four, lay unhurt but undiscovered under the legs of her dead mother for eight hours. The elder daughter, aged seven, was shot in the shoulder and pistolwhipped. She says both she and her father were outside the car when the shooting started. He then tried to flee in the BMW but got trapped on the verge. Despite an investigation spanning the globe, no one has been caught.
Police do not even know whether the Al-hillis or nuclear industry worker Mr Mollier were the main target. Investigators have considered numerous potential motives, including Mr Al-hilli’s past life in Iraq where he had potential financial links to Saddam Hussein. He is believed to have changed the locks of his home shortly before his death and recorded his phone calls.
Police have also investigated contract killers, the possibility of a random attack by a “lone wolf ” psychopath and love interests.
Line Bonnet-mathis, newly appointed Annecy Prosecutor, confirmed that the enquiry was active and continuing.
She said “preservation of physical evidence” was a priority, emphasising: “This is not a cold case.”