French police accused of covering-up murder of British family shot in the Alps
This unsolved cold case from 2012 stinks for various reasons. Saad al Hilli's older brother Zaid has now repeated his claim there was a high level cover up by the French authorities. I would not disagree except I believe his accusation should not be limited to the French.
I wrote an inordinate number of words on this case and subsequently on this Blog, highlighting the many contradictions and unanswered anomalies, that remain to this day. The articles can still be retrieved using the search box (top left)
In at least two press conferences, the opportunity to answer or reveal significant facts and information was pointedly avoided and has not been since. In fact the prosecutor went out of his way to prosecute leaked information which appeared to contradict the official narrative. The Frenchman killed, Mr Mollier, was openly protected from investigation.
For the first time I believe, seven year old Zainab's account of what happened is given below. Intriguingly the report says it was given to French investigators not British ones, despite her condition at the time and being swiftly returned to the UK. The account she gives - if reliably reported - is of course most significant.
I believe, as I always have, that this was no 'ordinary' mass killing as the investigators would have us believe, but a meticulously planned operation, most likely executed by agents of an unnamed state or states.
Although I have dealt at length with the issues before, it may be of interest to some if I try to summarise as bullet points some of the outstanding ones that make this case intriguing and unique. If you are unfamiliar with the case, the items may come as a surprise, as they are seldom posed or referred to by mainstream media (MSM)
First the Al Hillis were/are no ordinary family. They originate from Iraq and whilst there, operated at the highest levels of government. When in 1968 there was a bloodless coup in which Saddam Hussein masterminded a Ba'athist purge, Saad's father and uncle were targeted and tortured. They were seen by the brutal and fanatical Hussain as part of the prior governmental establishment and opposition. Also probably as Western stooges and agents. Saad's uncle had spent time in the USA in the fifties and had probably been recruited by the CIA. In the early 1970's both Saad's father and uncle were lucky enough to escape but not without physical and psychological scars. They were allowed to settle in England and may well have continued their closet relationship with British Intelligence.
Meanwhile during the '70's and 80's Zaid and Saad were brought up first in central London then in the Surrey suburbs. The family were reasonably well off. Saddam Hussain took full control of Iraq in 1979 and immediately pursued a bloody war (1980 - 1988) with Iran, out of favour with America and the West after the fall of the Shah and the Islamist Revolution. For a while therefore Hussain was an agent of American policy in the region and supplied with weapons including poison gas and germ warfare.
In the cynical and hypocritical world of geo-politics, the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was used as the pretext for the first UN supported American/British invasion of Iraq, that although successful in its objective of effectively annhilating Saddams military (at great cost to human life) and expelling him from Kuwait, it stopped short of removing the regime with Saddam at its head altogether.
Fast forward to 2001 with the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, claimed to have been masterminded in Afghanistan, and provided with terrorists from Saudi Arabia, but used as another pretext for a second invasion of Iraq begun in 2003. Of course we now all know, everything about these two operations were criminal and fraudulent, including the claim that Saddam had chemical and biological weapons - rather ironic in the context of what America and the West had previously supplied to him.
War heightens the need for intelligence and inside information about the political situation. Of course the Al Hillis had that and must have been an important source. We know for a fact that Saad was under intense scrutiny by MI5 at the time - the Government has admitted as much - and was probably in direct contact with MI6. Zaid may have been similarly connected. So we may see in the years following 9/11, Saad and probably Zaid were assets of British Intelligence. As I said this was no ordinary British family. It provides the context for the later horrific events and increases the chances that the murders were State organised. The fact that this possibility was totally down-played by the French investigators, increases the likelihood there was intentional obfuscation and cover-up from the beginning.
It would be hard to consider the context of the crime without reference to Israel.
First Netanyahu was outspoken in his belief that Iraq was developing nuclear and chemical/biological weapons. Also that he pressured the United States to invade and supported it, as he saw Iraq under Saddam as a real and present threat to Israili military supremacy. As far back as 1981 Israel had actually bombed an Iraqi nuclear power plant. There is also no doubt that Mossad was deeply implicated in the events of 9/11 in consort with the American intelligence and military as its 'Pearl Harbour Event' that was required to enable the later attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq, plus other Arab and Muslim countries, all of which can only be viewed as a human and political disaster, the effects of which we are still seeing.
Saad and Zaid found themselves in the middle of this international maelstrom with painful reverberations from their own past. Israel continued its aggressive action against the Palestinians, Syria and Iran, firmly supported by the west. Meanwhile Saad engaged in anti-Israeli polemic on the web that must have brought him to the attention of the Israeli security apparatus. Saad was a computer expert. He must have been tracked by British Intelligence either by agreement or covertly. This whole area remains concealed from public view, but must be known to the government who, following the murders, seized and must have analysed in it detail. It would have not only revealed Saad's opinion on events, but more importantly all his contacts abroad, including those in Syria, Iran and Iraq.
Finally we have in Israel a state that has perfected the art of assassination at home and abroad, of anyone it deems a threat to the state, and unusually even brags about it openly. Literally hundreds have been carried out over the decades since its formation. It is an expert at it and has seldom been held to account. The killings are meticulously planned before hand, based on intelligence, and use the latest sophisticated gadgetry apropos 'James Bond'. They seldom if ever leave a trace or lead to the capture of the operatives who are military trained to a high level.
- Israel has a long history of relentlessly pursuing and targeting enemies for assassination.
- Founded in 1970, Kidon is the ultra-secretive unit in the Mossad’s Caesarea (undercover) Division, said to specialize in carrying out targeted killings in foreign lands.
- In Hebrew, Kidon means “bayonet” or “tip of the spear.”
- Very little is known about the unit and it’s said to be “one of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community.”
- Observations of past killings attributed to Kidon show the unit favors use of gunmen, motorcycles, and “sticky bombs.”
- Tactics used in the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh are consistent with past targeted killings attributed to Kidon.
In 2010, after four rounds of U.N. economic sanctions failed to halt Iran’s enrichment of weapons-grade uranium, U.S. intelligence sources say Israel gave Kidon the greenlight to begin targeting Iranian nuclear scientists.
In addition to Fakhrizadeh, Israel is the prime suspect for five successful assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists from 2010 to 2012 and one attempted assassination. A 2007 gas poisoning of the co-founder of the Nuclear Technology Center of Isfahan, Ardeshir Hosseninpour, is additionally suspected also to be the work of Kidon.
The notably similar tactics used in previous attacks on Iranian scientists have in effect become the unspoken calling card of Kidon.
Elementary-particle physicist Masoud Alimohammadi was killed on January 12, 2010, after a bomb rigged to a motorbike exploded as he left his home to head for work.
On November 29, 2010, unknown assassins on motorcycles killed nuclear scientist and engineer Majid Shahriari by planting and detonating a C-4 bomb on his car door while Shahriari was driving.
At nearly the same time the hit was being carried out on Shahriari, another would-be assassin rammed a bomb-laden motorbike into the car of a prominent leader of Iran’s nuclear research program, Fereydoon Abbasi. Abbasi and his wife narrowly escaped by jumping out of their vehicle just before the bomb detonated.
On July 23, 2011, Darioush Rezaeinejad, an electrical engineering student and employee at one of Tehran’s national security nuclear research facilities, was shot and killed by two motorcycle-riding gunmen in front of his home after he and his wife had just picked up their daughter from kindergarten. The unknown assailants also wounded Rezaeinejad’s wife during the attack
On January 11, 2012, in a nearly identical attack as the one carried out on Majid Shahriari months earlier, nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed when a passing motorcyclist placed a magnetized “sticky bomb” on his car while he was on his way to work.
I note that it is only now being admitted by the French, that the person/persons involved in the Chevaline killings did have military training! Besides shots from a distance, all the adult victims had the distictive 'double tap' to the head. Despite an immediate and huge police response, the killer/s could not be identified and appear to have disappeared without trace. Of course any suggestion the Isreali Government could have been involved is pure speculation and dismissed as ridiculous 'conspiracy theory'. However you must admit all the circumstances surrounding the case makes it a possibility, subsequently made more plausible by the Gaza breakout October 7th 2023 and Israel and the West's brutal reaction to it.
Despite two huge investigation teams, one based in Surrey the other based in Annecy, assurances of bothe British Prime Minister and French President, and many lines of enquiries, false trails and suspects, all leads have led nowhere. Nor has there been any public accountability or revelation. Zaid's current complaint that he was unjustly treated by the French Prosecutor, highlights the strange relationship between the British and French investigators. He was arrested by the British Police but refused to visit France but was instead interviewed in Britain in what appears to be strict British control. He was soon after released for lack of evidence of any involvement in the murders.
So were the the British and French police on the 'same page' or were they working to different agendas, whilst maintaining the appearance of agreement and co-operation? Only those engaged in it on both sides would know and they arn't telling. All part of what appears to be a cloak and dagger exercise. British ex-policemen have however been very critical of the way in which the French investigation was undertaken. Not only was Zaid treated courteously by British police, it is clear he was given specialist protection by the fact that armed police turned up within minutes outside his home on being called. The fact that they thought his life was at risk, definitely points to something other that the 'accidental killer on the loose' theory that the French proposed and stuck to. Local psychopaths with no motive don't tend to travel abroad to kill relatives, do they?
Now let us consider some of the many anomalies of this case that have never been properly explained or revealed. As they are so obvious it begs the question Why?
Everything about this case should be viewed with suspicion for good reason. Are all those involved who they say they are, doing what they did for the reasons stated, or are there ulterior motives and hidden agendas? If this were a play, we have a cast of actors, known and unknown, some announced from the start, some revealed subsequently as the official account seemingly unraveled. For example Philip Didierjean, to whom Brett Martin apparently reported the murders, was not even mentioned at the beginning or his two companions who still have not been named. The forestry men and vehicles absolutely central to events were kept secret for months and have still not been properly factored in. The information of the interview with the motor-cyclist wearing a distinctive helmet further up the pass was witheld for over a year. We are told he was located, interviewed and cleared of any involvement, which to say the least is coincidental. So let us consider some outstanding points in more detail.
Trips to France by Saad and his family were not apparently unusual, but this one on the 29th August, 2012 had some puzzling aspects that have never been explained. For whatever reason Saad seems to have kept his intention and plans to himself, telling neither neighbours or accountant of them until the last minute. Perhaps the strangest aspect was that both his children were due to start school in August but they missed that important date and he didn't inform the school accordingly. For some reason he included his mother-in-law Suhaila-al-Allaf, 74 on the trip despite the fact that she apparently lived in Reading forty miles away and had little contact with the family. It is almost as if Saad had a clear objective for going - an assignation - and wanted the appearance of an extended family 'for cover'. The French tracked his movement across France and found nothing sinister about it.
However there are rather strange aspects to their arrival at their destination. First Saad moved camp site after only a couple of days. His movements at the first were strange. At the second an argument was reported with an unidentified person.
Jan Janssen and his friend Anne-Marie Souderman, disclosed they had spent two days camping close to the al-Hilli family at the Village Camping Europa site, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Janssen said: "We were told they planned to stay all week but they left suddenly after two days. The father left the site in his car alone four or five times each day. He went out for 20 or 30 minutes each time.
"The first time we thought he was going to the shops but it was very odd to go out so often. We saw the grandmother and the older girl. They only had the caravan and we thought it looked cramped for five people."
The Mail reported on the 11th, "Tourists at the campsite where Saad Al-Hilli and his family were staying said they saw a suspicious eastern European man hanging around days before the family were shot dead. A Dutch couple staying at the the three-star Village Camping Europa site in the village of St Jorioz said they noticed the smartly dressed man there at the same time as the Al-Hillis. They added that they did not see anyone visit the family, but noticed the unusual man because he was dressed in a smart jacket while others at the site were wearing typical tourist clothes."
The second camp site 'Solitaire du Lac' at Saint Jorioz approximately seven miles from the killing site, was their location for their last two days. It was here that another strange and unexplained event occurred.
The Telegraph reported Saad al-Hilli, had a “heated” argument with an unidentified person at this campsite the night before he was killed, a new report claims. Several campers witnessed al-Hilli talk for half an hour with the man, whom he appeared to know, on September 4, 2012, Le Parisien newspaper reported, citing a judicial source. “It was a heated discussion but it was not described as vehement. But everyone has his own interpretation as to what constitutes a dispute according to his own culture,” a judicial source told Le Parisien.
Although somewhat vague, these accounts are nevertheless significant. They suggest that there was more to this trip than a simple holiday. That he was in contact with person or persons locally but not local to the area of eastern appearance with whom there was cause for heated discussion. In the light of following events who this person was and what the meetings entailed must be of supreme importance, yet this is not the impression given by the French authorities who seemed to have completely failed in revealing either.
Was there no CCTV in the vicinity of either camp site that might have afforded information? Was there no attempt to locate or identify the man of distinctive appearance; no traffic movements, no shops or hotel videos of him, no telephone or electronic communication records at least on Saad's phones (there were two in the car)?
It seems clear to humble me, but not apparently to the French or English investigators, that here there was evidence that Saad's trip was operating on two levels: the first an ostensibly normal holiday; the second a pre-arranged and covert undertaking to meet others for some undisclosed purpose. As interesting as the circumstances is the fact that these issues were not pursued.
Then we come to the fateful trip on the 5th of September, 2012 itself. It was to the appropriately - or inappropriately which ever you prefer - named Combe d'Ire from Chevaline. 'Ire' in English means 'anger'. 'Chevaline' is French for horses but was also for some reason adopted for the warhead of the Polaris Missile. Saad al-Hilli at around 1 pm set off from his camp site for this rather peculiar - I'm tempted to say 'dead-end' - destination. The lay-by at the end is called 'Martinet' which in English happens to mean 'a strict disciplinarian'. Needless to say the Englishman discovering the scene was called Brett Martin. All no doubt just etymological coincidence - or may be not?
The route from the entrance sign beyond Chevaline is three Kilometres or 1.86 miles. At a speed of 20 mph it would therefore take about five minutes to travel the distance. Laurient Fillion-Robin, a builder working in Chevaline reported he saw the al Hillis car with the passengers inside, pass him between 2.30 and 3.00 pm soon after he had had lunch. This would mean Saad got to the Martinet not later than 3.10 and probably a good deal earlier. This would mean they were at the lay-by a good hour before they were shot. It begs the question, what were they doing for all that time? Were they waiting for someone? Were they engaged in conversation with someone?
With the best will in the world it would be hard to spend an hour in that deserted spot without a purpose. There is no indication that they went for a walk or or had a picnic that might explain it although Zainab reportedly claims she and the other adult were out of or getting out of the car when the shooting happened. What after they had been there for an hour? That hardly seems realistic. Further if parked up for so long, it is hardly likely he would have parked facing into the bank at the top end as is claimed, but rather reversed in pointing outwards to take advantage of of the open sky and view. This is a major problem for the official version that he backed violently leaving the prominent tyre tracks. I have always contended that those tyre tracks were made by another vehicle connected with the killing - reportedly a BMW X5 by both French and British police.
I have no reason to doubt the evidence of Fillon-Robin. In my experience builders have a good awareness of time and his estimate of 2.30 to 3 pm is wide enough to allow for discrepancy. The question then emerges why would the official time of their arrival at Martinet be at least half an hour later at 3.30 pm unless to reject the idea of a long stay for a pre-planned assignation with others? Their arrival time before 3 pm also puts paid to any suggestion they passed either Mollier or Martin on the way up as neither started the route climb before 3.30 pm.
It is claimed Martin arrived on scene after the shooting about 3.45 pm. Although no slouch on a bike, he claimed he had been passed by Mollier about half way up. Given the still conscious state of Zainab on his arrival, the shooting must have taken place only minutes before, yet he heard no shots (25 in all!) despite two witnesses hearing them more than three kilomtres away and saw no suspicious vehicles - either cars or motor bikes on scene though he claims a vehicle passed him in the opposite direction as he cycled up.
There are other serious problems with Martin's account or of the official account of his involvement. The first is to do with the utterly crucial call to the emergency services timed at 3.48 precisely. It was a detail that originally alerted me to the strange goings on with this peculiar case. The earliest news announcements made a big point of the fact that the 'English tourist' had discovered the tragic scene and made that first call at 3.48 pm. It was critical for setting the time-line of events. Yet within days, Martin had denied it, saying that he had tried to use his mobile phone but had no reception and was prevented from doing so. If his account is accurate, it has significant consequences. It means that either someone other than him made the call or that the first call was made a significant time later, after he had carried out numerous actions to Zainab, Mollier and the car and cycled back down the Combe to meet up with Didierjean and his female companions who rang the police. The speed with which the three emergency services arrived on scene (before 4.30 pm) suggests the former time is reliable. So we must ask if Martin did not report the incident who did?
This very fundamental question has never been answered! There is no doubt that the 3.48 pm call would have been recorded, which would either prove Martin correct or otherwise. If someone else it would provide indications of the sex, age, language and nationality of the informer and could to some extent settle the matter but the recording has never been made public! The question remains why the initial report contain such an important error? It smacks to me of an agency with a pre-planned explanation and plot. If Martin didn't make the call, was a person not named on scene? Or must we infer it was either one of the occupants of the car or of the killer(s) themselves? The French authorities have so far refused to reveal this information and despite multiple false leads and trails, cannot it seems provide the answer to this most basic question.
I must admit I have other reservations about the accuracy of Brett Martin's account. We must bear in mind he had been a highly trained RAF pilot. We are not dealing here with a young or inexperienced individual, yet he leaves an unconscious seven year old girl lying in the road having made only superficial efforts to care for her. Did he think she was in fact dead or dying?
He said his initial sight was of a body and bike in the road and then of a little girl wandering in a disorientated state. He said he found Mollier in front of the car and dragged him to the side for safety, but all the blood is to the side and an unauthorised photograph shows him lying there. There is no evidence Mollier lay in front of the car or that when he met Didier-Jean his hands or clothes were blood stained as they clearly must have been if he had handled two badly bleeding persons in the way described. He said he smashed the locked car window to gain access to turn the engine off but all three passengers had been shot in the head in situ either through the glass or opened doors.
Then again an unauthorised photograph I previous published (i am unsure whether it has been removed) shows Mollier's bike not in the road, but leaning against a rail on the opposite said of of the lay-by at the top end, no where as described. Of course it could have been moved but unlikely as crime scenes are left untouched by and large. Why would Martin say it was in the road and Mollier in front of the vehicle if neither were true?
Then in the published photograph of the scene above there are a couple of things that puzzle me and never answered. The first is investigators are inspecting a tarpaulin covered area on the left hand side of the frame. Normally this would suggest an important piece of evidence, an artifact or body. Zainab had been removed to hospital so it cannot be her. Mollier is no longer lying where he lay and it is unlikely he would have been moved there. It's the wrong place for the bike, so what is/was it? No one seems to know.
A second point from the photo is the fact that one of the luggage rail on top of the car is missing you will notice. As far as I am aware it has never been located. Did the police even enquire of witnesses if it had recently been in place. Saad was an engineer. It is obvious he was fastidious with his car. Apart from everything else he would have needed it for loading. So when and where did it go. Is it possible it contained something important and was removed by the killers? As far as I am aware no one has explained the significance of the missing rail.
Of all the intriguing features of this case is the involvement of the French Forestry Service (ONF) employees and why it was kept secret for so long. As usual important details that can be crucial, are still not in the public domain.
The gist of it is that on the day in question, two ONF employees in a cross country vehicle met a motor cyclist with a distinctive helmet, at the top of the pass. They told him he shouldn't be there and asked him to return the way he came. (At least we assume its the way he came) This information was not officicially released until November 2013, that is seventeen months after the murder, although the information must have been with them from the beginning! Soon after the man was allegedly identified and ruled out of involvement. There was no credible explanation for this huge policing failure.
With it, it gradually became clear that the ONF evidence was critical, as they passed the scene with the biker behind them it seems, within minutes of the shooting taking place. Yet these facts had been witheld from the public for well over a year! Amazing! I believe in fact it was a Panorama investigation that broke the story.
" Two vehicles, identified by investigators, passed through the Martinet parking lot just before the killing: a vehicle occupied by two ONF guards, followed by a motorcyclist, intercepted a little further up on a portion prohibited to traffic. Learning that he could not continue his route, the biker turned around, heading back down towards the valley, following the forest guards' vehicle.
At the Martinet car park, which marks the limit between the motorable road and the prohibited sector, one of the guards saw the biker slow down, before losing sight of him. The ONF agents continue their route, coming across a first cyclist, a dark car then a second cyclist.
In order, Sylvain Mollier, the vehicle of al-Hilli and Brett Martin. After crossing the ONF vehicle, the latter will cross the biker's path, approximately 300 m from the Martinet car park. When he reaches the parking lot, he discovers the crime scene.
"It all happened in a matter of minutes. According to various accounts, the timing of the killing was very tight.
When the ONF agents and the Lyon biker left the Martinet parking lot, neither Sylvain Mollier nor the al-Hilli arrived on site. It took the Lyon motorcyclist less than a minute to cover the few hundred meters that separate the parking lot from the place where he meets Brett Martin. And less than three minutes to the latter to go the opposite way, by bike. For investigators, the equation is simple.
"If the testimonies of Brett Martin and the Lyon biker are true, then Sylvain Mollier and the al-Hilli arrived almost simultaneously in the parking lot, just after the biker had passed. Saad and his eldest daughter get out of the vehicle. A man burst in, shot Sylvain Mollier and Zainab al-Hilli, then Saad who tried to flee.
"The man, a business manager from Lyon, was not identified until May 2014, twenty months after the killing, and freely questioned in January 2015. To the investigators, he explained that he had been hang gliding and that he then took the small roads to enjoy the landscape before returning home. The man claimed not to have noticed anything suspicious during his motorcycle ride.
"But in January 2022, the latter was taken into police custody. After thousands of hours of work, investigators found inconsistencies in his schedule. Heard for 36 hours, this father was finally released without any charges being brought against him. “He is completely out of the question, this trail is closed,” a judicial source explained to Le Parisien at the time."
The latter, in a desperate maneuver to save his family, tried to turn around, got stuck in the embankment, before being shot dead at the wheel, as were his wife and mother-in-law in the back seats. In a handful of minutes, more than twenty bullets were fired by the killer who changed his magazine at least twice, before fleeing, without being seen by Brett Martin, the first to arrive on the scene, or by no other witnesses. Unless, of course, one of the witnesses hasn't said everything."
If I remember rightly another report from some time ago stated that an ONF team had seen a biker parked at the Martinet car park. Were there then two ONF teams and vehicles or is it related to a direction of travel, up and down. Of course all these details can be crucial, but inexplicably have been withheld promoting a suspicion of intrigue and cover-up. A proper interview of the ONF officers is called for but this has never happened. As I have said it is quite incredible that this witness information was kept secret for so long. Why?
Now we have to ask if the above account accurately reflects the ONF's officer's memory of the sequence of events, or indeed that they are in themselves accurate. We would have to see the original statements and the date they were taken, to form an opinion on that. But as I said at the time, it is inconceivable, given the high-profile nature of the crime, that the ONF employees did not report their recollections immediately to the police, and that the police, for whatever reason, kept them confidential for seventeen months!
There are a number ofreasons why we should view the above account with caution. In stopping and interviewing the motor cyclist, presumably guilty of an infraction of forestry rules, or why else would they have ordered him to return, it is most unlikely that they did not enquire as to his personal details. If so why was it necessary to publish an appeal for his whereabouts seventeen months later and only then locating him?
The above account suggests the vehicle followed the ONF vehicle down whereas one might have expected it to be the other way around to ensure he followed their instructions. It suggests they left him behind at the car park which would have course meant he was probably there when the shooting occurred? How does that play as he wasn't a victim?
Then we have the ONF sequence of arrivals coming in the opposite direction as they made their way down the Combe: first Sylvain Mollier, then the Al Hilli's car, then Brett Martin. This would mean either the Hillis or Mollier got to the car park first, depending on where they saw them, their relative speed and whether the car overtook Mollier or he arrived ahead. In any event we only have minutes before according to the facts, Martin arrived.
Placing the al Hilli's BMW between the two, and if Martin must have arrived before the first emergency call at 3.48 pm it means that the Al Hillis arrived at about 3.45 pm and all the shooting happened immediately. The problem with this is that Laurient Fillion-Robin claims they went past him at between 2.30 and 3 pm which must surely mean they arrived well ahead of both cylists? Is it possible the al Hillis were already parked up when the ONF crew went down past and that the BMW vehicle they saw coming up, was the mysterious one reported going up and down by Martin, an appeal for which was immediately put out by the French police and much later the British? If so both the motor cyclist and the BMW would be in the frame for the killing.
I have also always doubted the re-stated theory that Saad's car was parked facing in at the top of the car park and whilst under fire he managed to get back in and reverse to its final location. Rather I believe it was another vehicle that parked there, reversing at speed, before racing away when the deed was done, leaving the prominent tyre tracks.
Clearly Saad managed to get back in the car, leaving Zaina outside, locking it, starting the engine, putting the automatic in reverse, before he was shot dead through the window glass, presumably the accurately shooting in the head both his wife and mother in law. The killer obviously made a hasty retreat without attempting to turn off the engine or gain access to the car if Martin can be believed.
The couple’s two daughters, survived, with seven-year-old Zainab being left for dead after being shot in the shoulder and beaten round the head.
Zeena, four, hid beneath her mother’s legs and remained motionless for eight hours in the back of the family’s BMW.
Mr al-Hilli’s brother Zaid al-Hilli said French investigators should never have pointed the fingers at him, and should have looked at local suspects.
He told The Times the original investigation was a ‘deception – an attempt to deceive us’.
The brother of a British tourist who was shot dead in the Alps with his wife and mother-in-law has accused French Police of a cover up after they investigated him for the murders.
Saad al-Hilli, 50, was shot dead alongside his wife Iqbal Al-Hilli, 47, and her mother, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, close to Lake Annecy in eastern France in September 2012.
They were each shot three times with at least one shot to head.
A passing cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, was also killed in the isolated layby where the family had parked their car.
He added: ‘It was a local crime and has been covered up.
‘They made allegations against me without any evidence. There was no attempt to look at a local motive right from the start.’
French police revealed earlier this week DNA testing might be able to solve the now cold case.
They have ordered the he ‘unsealing of the fragments’ so they can be re-tested with state-of-the-art DNA technology.
The clothes Sylvian Mollier and Zainab Al-Hilli were wearing on the fateful day are also going to be reexamined, along with some 10 cigarette butts found around the area.
‘It is hoped that new examinations will uncover DNA traces,’ said an investigating source.
‘If yes, then they will be sent for comparison with a national genetic fingerprint file which lists more than four million fingerprints, to see if there is a match.’
Mr Mollier, a father of three, was wearing a helmet, cycling shoes, and sports clothing when he was killed, and all of it will be analysed by a specialist laboratory in the Paris area, along with Zainab’s clothes and shoes.
But it is the gun which holds the most hope of a breakthrough, as it is guaranteed to have been in direct contact with the killer.
Most of the Luger was removed from the scene, but small pieces of the grip plates were found near the BMW.
Mr al-Hilli was arrested after the state prosecutor theorised the family were the target of a shoot-to-kill murder.
There was also a feud between the brothers over the inheritance of a £1 million family home from their parents.
The following information in the Mail, is new to me. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13482605/French-authorities-accused-cover-brother-British-tourist-mysteriously-gunned-Alps-family.html
Strangely it was not revealed at the time. I do not know when it became public, but it is significant. For the first time it gives the only account of the alleged killer and of a motor cyclist passing Englishman, 'Brett Martin'. He does not report the motor cyclist returning past him.
The following account is highly significant as it is the only one that is contemporaneous with the murder. We do not know if this is a partial account and other important information was given but as it stands, if reliable, it is crucial as much from what it doesn't say as from what it does. For example there is no mention of Saad reversing his car from the top of the car park to the bottom as the official version claims to explain the tyre marks. In fact it is hard to see how this could have happened if as Zainab claims both she and her father were outside together. If shots started ringing out, there would scarcely be time for Saad to get back in the car let alone carry out a reversing manouevre. She claims all the rest of the passengers got out as well. Now how would that work given they were all inside when found? She claims she was ordered back inside by her parents when she was grabbed and held. This would have meant the assailant still had hold of her whilst shooting both Mollier and all of the three occupants of the car. Really? Or did he cosh her (I find the expression generally used of 'pistol whipped' somewhat distasteful and suspect), drop her seemingly unconscious, and carry on shooting without her in his arms. It is a macabre aspect if he was holding her whilst shooting her parents and grandmother. To add to the questions, of course Mr Martin claims to have discovered her wandering around before collapsing. If so she either was not initially knocked out or had recovered only minutes before he arrived with appartenly no sign of the attacker!
She makes no mention of seeing or hearing a motor bike. She refers to leather jacket and trousers but makes no mention of a helmet of any kind. She says he was MALE and WHITE. She makes no reference to the gun and whether it was held in his right or left hand. Then we have a difficulty with the weapon, an old Luger allegedly that with twenty-five bullets fired, would have required reloading at least twice - whilst he was holding a struggling seven year old in his arms? This part of the plot certainly requires further elucidation to be credible. Of course it becomes more explicable if the man that held her was not the man who did the killing but that would of course require more than one perpatrator that the police ruled out. The fact that she does not claim the man who held her was also shooting a pistol -surely with noise and small this would not have escaped her recollection - adds weight to this possibility.
"After the vicious attack, the then 7-year-old was found staggering around the BMW car on the side of the road by a former RAF officer, Brett Martin.
She later told French investigators that her family had been on holiday, and enjoying a drive through mountainous countryside by the village of Chevaline.
They got to the 'edge of a small road riddled with potholes,' and Zainab got out of the car with her father.
She recalled seeing cyclist Sylvian Mollier, and while other members of the family were getting out of the car 'gunshots rang out.'
Zainab was ordered back into the car by her parents, but then the shooter grabbed the girl from behind.
'She first of all thought it was her father, but then saw the white skin and bare hands of her attacker, and realised it couldn't be him.
'Zainab struggled but couldn't get out of the grip. According to her, the killer was wearing long trousers and a leather jacket.'
Zainab was then pistol whipped and blacked out after suffering multiple facial injuries. She later made a full recovery and returned to the UK, where she now lives."
Mr Martin, who owned a holiday home in the Annecy area, at first thought he had stumbled across a road traffic accident, but then saw the bullet holes and casings lying on the ground.
Mobile phone reception was poor, so he had to cycle away to alert the police, after putting Zainab in the recovery position.
In a detailed interview last year, Mr Martin said: 'In hindsight I realise I could have been the fifth victim.
'About 200 or 300 metres from the scene, a motorcycle came very slowly past me. It was a black-clad motorcyclist in a full-face helmet and a Trans Alpine style of bike. I couldn't see their face and couldn't even say if they were male or female.
More items for analysis mentioned in this 'Sun' report
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/28244299/saad-al-hilli-shot-murder-brother-accuses-french-cops/
Clothes that Sylvian Mollier and Zainab Al-Hilli wore on the day of the chilling attack will also be examined once more, as well as around 10 cigarette ends found in the vicinity.
The clothes set for analysis include a a helmet, cycling shoes, and sports clothing worn by Mollier when he was killed as well as Zainab’s shoes and clothes.
They will be studied in a specialist laboratory to find traces of any clues that could lead the way to solving the case.
An investigating source said: "It is hoped that new examinations will uncover DNA traces.
See also: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/1b9uw4x/the_2012_annecy_shootings_the_massacre_of_a/
From this Blog:
The Chevaline Massacre, One Year On – by Tim Veater
The Al Hilli Murders at Chevaline – Tim Veater
Chevaline Lies but Why? – Tim veater
Al Hilli/Mollier Chevaline Killings
Examples of Mossad covert activity in France and Britain. Just the tip of an Iceberg?
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