Saad al-Hilli, 50, along with his wife and mother-in-law were gunned down along with a local cyclist near Lake Annecy, eastern France, in a mystery which remains unsolved 12 years on
A special forces soldier who “went off the rails” may have been behind the shooting of a British family which has baffled detectives for 12 years.
The deaths of Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife, Iqbal, 47, and mother-in-law, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, have remained mysteries. Each was shot three times, at least once in the head in the massacre near Lake Annecy, eastern France, in which a French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, was also killed.
Saad and Iqbal’s daughter Zainab, aged seven at the time, was shot in the shoulder but survived, while their youngest daughter Zeena, aged four at the time, was found uninjured under her dead mother’s skirt in the back seat. The family, from Claygate, Surrey, had driven to Lake Annecy for a camping trip in September 2012.
But now French police are working on a new lead where they believe that the murderer was a “seasoned former soldier, trained in very particular shooting techniques” by Swiss special forces, who had “gone off the rails”, Le Parisien reported.
The precision and speed of the shootings have led to this conclusion as within 90 seconds the attacker had fired 21 shots. Three members of the Al-Hilli family were hit up to four times while Mr Mollier was fired at six times. And of these 21 shots, there were 18 which hit their targets which suggests “extreme composure and great skill in handling a weapon”.
The type of weapon was a Luger PO6 which are not seen as reliable and can often malfunction which means they are not a typical gun for a professional hitman. It is also possible that the gun did fail and that is why the attacker struck Zainab on the head with the gun.
An expert also believes that the way the gunman chose to finish off his victims at close range, suggests military training, and is typically used by the Swiss Détachement d’Action Rapide et de Dissuasion (DARD). “This is something learned in Switzerland, not in France, or the guy is part of a specialized unit,” he told Le Parisien.
It comes after last year investigators believed that the gunman had shoot-to-kill training. Saad’s brother, Zaid Al-Hilli, said at the time he hoped that a review of the case would lead to a breakthrough as he also accused the French authorities of a cover-up. He told The Times: “The original investigation was a deception, to attempt to deceive us. 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.”
A ballistics report had suggested Mr Mollier, a father of three, was the intended victim. Zaid’s family lawyer, William Bourdon, one of the most celebrated in France, said it would probably take a “stroke of luck” to find the killer. He continued: “Maybe with the passing of time, people who have kept silent will start to talk.”
Zaid said: “I hope there can finally be justice for my brother and his family.” In November, French investigators said they were looking for a mystery motorcyclist who was seen near the crime scene. One lead in tracing the man was that he was wearing an unusual helmet, only a few thousand of which had been made.
