Al Hilli/Chevaline 2012 Murders.
Police Up-date.
Despite the extensive resources of a two-nation investigation in France and Britain, after fourteen years, this high-profile crime remains unsolved, with no one charged or convicted in relation to it.
Personally, I do not believe this is remotely possible without deep-state involvement and cover-up. I have always believed this was an highly professional, state organised operation, for covert purposes, which for whatever reason, it was decided secrecy would prevail.
Though not proved, it has all the hall-marks of a Mossad assassination operation, recently replicated in the recent Charlie Kirk killing and other terrorist events.
It goes without saying, that Israel has a long history of assassinating people at home and abroad, as part of a much wider brutal genocidal and inhuman philosophy. It assassinates, as a matter of national policy, more people than all other states combined!
The fact that Western Governments have spectacularly failed to criticise or control Israel's despotic regime in Palestine and Lebanon or its aggression in Iran, does not inspire confidence that if it was responsible for the cold-blooded Chevaline killings, it would be held to account. Indeed there is every reason to believe secret service organisations in both France and Britain might either be complicit in it or seek to cover it up.
The clumsy way the incident was investigated initially and throughout; the conflicting story-line; the secrecy surrounding witnesses and those involved; the intentional misinformation over who reported the crime; confusion over the facts of the case; unidentified vehicles; the speed and professionalism of the murders; the friction and disagreement between British and French investigators; armed responses to perceived threats in Britain; the historic international and spying connections; all suggest this was far more than a little local violent domestic incident.
Fourteen years ago and subsequently, I have written articles on this and other related incidents (some links to Chevaline at the bottom of this page) Nothing that has emerged since, has changed my view that this was an espionage-related state killing, that has been wrapped in secrecy and confusion by western governments. Isn't it about time the truth was revealed?
If this retrieved gun proves by forensic analysis, to be connected to the 21 shots fired on the 5th September, 2012, it raises further questions. Why would the shooter - or someone else - dispose of it at the very location where the Al Hilli's camped and in a way that would make its rediscovery most likely in only two metres (6' 6") of water? Most reports say it was at a depth of two metres but the ITV report (referenced below) states it was only "five feet deep and only a few dozen metres from the shore". We do not know the identity of the British tourists who discovered it.
If it is the murder weapon, leaving aside whether the casing marks link to the barrel and other distinguishing features, the weapon should be immediately matchable from the widely advertised loss of part of the handle. The absence of this single detail and the circumstances of the discovery combine further suspicions that this may be yet another false trail.
Of course what is never suggested or admitted is the possibility that the damaged part of the gun on site might have been an intentional ruse to mislead the investigation that an ancient Luger pistol was used for the killing. As far as I am aware the shell casings or bullets themselves, have never been displayed publicly to establish beyond doubt the weapon that fired them. No cartridge cases were recovered!
Of course as previously discussed, if only this ancient Luger was used it raises questions that have never been properly addressed or resolved. Twenty one shell casings and reportedly seventeen fatal wounds (the number kept changing originally) would have required at least two new cartridge changes. How, given the dynamic situation, logistics and location, this has never been demonstrated in practice.
The official view is that all the shooting from distance and close up was carried out by one man with a vintage pistol who then escaped without notice or trace, without the assistance of any other person or vehicle!
Following from CVT NEWS: French Alps murder 2012: Authorities examine possible weapon
NANTERRE, France - French officials are examining a Luger pistol found at the bottom of Lake Annecy which could have been used in the murders of an Iraqi-British family and a French cyclist 14 years ago.
The 2012 Alps killings saw three members of a British-Iraqi family and a French citizen shot dead on a mountain road near the southern end of Lake Annecy.
Saad al-Hilli, 50; his wife Iqbal, 47; her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74 and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, were found dead on a mountain road.
The al-Hillis’ two daughters survived the attack. One, aged four, was found hidden under the legs of her dead mother in the rear footwell while the elder one, aged seven, was shot in the shoulder and also suffered a head wound.
French prosecutors in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre told AFP on Monday the Luger was fished out from the bottom of the lake by British tourists swimming there on August 20.
It shows similarities to the weapon used in the 2012 attack.
French and British police had investigated al-Hilli’s past in Iraq as an engineer on sensitive topics, as well as his work at the time of his death, as a potential motive for the attack. END ABSTRACT
Following from Daily Star: Major breakthrough in unsolved bloodbath murder of British family and cyclist - Daily Star
A rare pistol of exactly the same type used to kill three members of a British family and a cyclist in France has been found at the bottom of a lake close to the scene of the unsolved crime.
The breakthrough comes as the baffling 14-year-old case dubbed the "Alps Murders" remains unsolved. It was in September 2012 that 50-year-old Surrey engineer Saad al-Hilli was gunned down alongside his wife, Iqbal Al-Hilli, 47, and her mother, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74.
The bloodbath in an isolated layby close to Lake Annecy in eastern France also claimed the life of cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45. Hand-grip fragments of a rare Luger PO6/29, Parabellum 7.65, were found at the scene, leading forensics experts to conclude that it was the weapon used.
Now, police divers have found exactly the same kind of Swiss Army sidearm at the bottom of Lake Annecy, which at its deepest is 82 metres (269ft). "It was found in the water last week," said an investigating source.
"The gun was immediately salvaged, and rushed away for forensic analysis." The source further shared: "The time it has spent in the water will clearly make analysis extremely complex, but the priority is to work out if it was the one used in the quadruple murder."
The killer fired 21 bullets in under two minutes, hitting his victims with 17 of them. The Al-Hilli’s seven-year-old daughter, Zainab Al-Hilli, was shot in the shoulder and beaten around the head with the gun, while her sister, Zeena Al-Halli, four, escaped by hiding in the back of the family’s BMW car.
Ms Khéris said the killer was likely to have been "methodical and calm", and had undoubtedly received "shoot to kill" training, after performing ‘double taps’ on his victims. A "double tap" involves a shooter hitting a victim with a bullet, and then using another one to confirm a kill.
While DNA was once thought to be completely washed away in deep water, advancements in forensic technology mean DNA profiles can sometimes be recovered. Beyond this, the gun will have a serial number, and this may help investigators track down its precise history, potentially right up until it came into the hands of the murderer.
Experts working for France’s elite cold case unit in the Paris suburb of Nanterre will now re-test the original gun fragments from the scene of the crime, and compare them with the newly discovered pistol. The Al-Hillis, of Claygate, Surrey, originally came from Iraq, and one theory was that their links to the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein may have been a reason for their murders.
There were also claims that Mr Al-Hilli was involved in a dispute over a family inheritance, but this has been discounted because of a complete lack of evidence. Other theories include the main target having been Mr Mollier, the French cyclist, meaning that the Al-Hillis ended up as collateral damage. END ABSTRACT
As reported by the BBC (3.9.2026) (My highlights - TTV)
Alps murders: Luger in a lake gives hope for French cold case - BBC News
Police investigating the unsolved murder of a British family in France 14 years ago have an unexpected new clue with the discovery of a Luger pistol in the waters of a nearby lake.
One of the few certainties in the killings of Saad al-Hilli with his wife and mother-in-law – as well as a passing cyclist – is that they were shot through the head with a Luger model P06, a type used by the Swiss army until around 1960.
Now France's cold case unit has confirmed the discovery of a Luger in Lake Annecy, in the Alps, not far from the scene of the murders in September 2012.
According to Marianne magazine, which broke the story, it was British tourists on 20 August who found the weapon lying in two metres of water.
At first they thought it was a water pistol, but realised their mistake when they felt its weight.
The discovery was made near the very camping site – Le Solitaire du Lac – where the al-Hillis were staying in their caravan, Marianne reported.
Forensic experts are now examining the weapon, which has been badly damaged by its time under water, to see if it is indeed a P06 model.
It is estimated that around 60,000 Luger P06s were manufactured. But the number of Luger pistols in general that were made is more like three million.
Exhaustive investigations in France and the UK have left police no closer to understanding who carried out the al-Hilli murders and why. Over the years a series of leads have been pursued then dropped.
A British national of Iraqi birth, Saad al-Hilli (50) was holidaying with his family in the picturesque countryside of Lake Annecy in eastern France.
On the afternoon of 5 September, his body with those of his wife (Ed: and mother-in-law were found in their car, its motor still running, on a forest road near the village of Chevaline. A passing cyclist (ED: Sylvain Mollier) had – like the other victims – been shot through the head.
(ED: Also shot dead, Saad's wife Iqbal (47) and mother-in-law, Suhaila Al-Allaf (74) plus local French cyclist Sylvain Mollier (45))
Poignantly, the two al-Hilli daughters, (Ed: Respectively Zeena (4) and Zainab (7)) survived. The older girl had been hit on the head with a pistol butt and was badly hurt. The younger, lying in the car under her mother's skirts, was not discovered till forensic experts began examining the scene many hours later.
It was fragments from the pistol butt which enabled police to identify it as a Luger P06. The model is regarded more as a collector's item than a working weapon, which made the theory of a professional hit against the family seem less likely.
Lake Annecy is only 50km from Switzerland, where the Luger P06 will have been familiar to older people from their military service. French police said many examples of the gun have been kept by families on either side of the border.
Among the theories that have been entertained are that the murders were linked to a family row over money; that they were the work of a motiveless crank; and that the main target was the cyclist (Ed. TTV: Sylvain Mollier)
Police were also briefly intrigued by the fact that al-Hilli's wife's first husband – an American – died of a heart attack just hours before the killings in France.
'Don't get carried away'
William Bourdon, the French lawyer Al Hilli family members, told radio station France Info they were “obviously very eager.” He said: “We have to hold them back and tell them: 'Don't get carried away by a kind of premature enthusiasm.' So, what they see is that the French justice system is rising to the challenge.”
Dozens of Luger PO6 pistols have been analysed in the past 14 years and returned to their owners, according to Marianne, which quoted the example of a famous orchestra conductor who had his pistol temporarily confiscated.
At least 21 rounds were fired at the Al Hillis over a period of a few minutes on the afternoon of September 5, 2012, after they had left the campsite for a drive.
An interesting additional variation is here in an ITV report:
Pistol found in French lake could be linked to murder of British family | ITV News
Prosecutor Marie-Celine Lawrysz said in a statement that, on August 20, two tourists swimming in Lake Annecy found a semi-automatic pistol at a depth of around five feet, a few dozen metres away from the shore.
“They kept the weapon for 24 hours and conducted online research to identify its type,” she said.
“They subsequently drew a link between the discovered weapon and the one believed to have been used in the Chevaline killing on September 5 2012.
“On August 21 2026, they handed the weapon over to gendarmes from the local Saint-Jorioz brigade.”
Suspects previously arrested in connection with the case include an Iraqi prisoner known as Mr S who was claimed to have said he had been offered “a large sum of money” to kill Iraqis living in the UK.
LINKS TO MY PREVIOUS ARTICLES
Sunday, 11 July 2021
Chevaline Massacre - A useful reference document.
Veater Ecosan: "The World About Us": Search results for al hilli
