France to reopen Alps murder case as possible serial killer charged

POLICE are to look into whether a suspected serial killer could be behind the unsolved Alps murders in which a British man, his wife and mother-in-law were killed in a forest car park.

Saad al-Hilli, Iqbal al-Hilli and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf were shot dead on holiday in Chevaline, near Annecy, in September 2012, along with a passing French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier.

Despite a massive manhunt, the investigation has all-but petered out.

Police are now questioning a 34-year-old ex-soldier who is the main suspect in two other cases in the area.

One relates to the disappearance of a nine-year-old girl in August at a wedding where the suspect was a guest, the other to the killing of a hitchhiking soldier in April.

The suspect, Nordahl Lelandais, has been in custody since September as part of the investigation over the disappearance of nine-year-old Maëlys de Araujo in the Chambéry region of south-eastern France.

He has been charged with kidnapping the girl, which he has denied.

“We are going to look at all the disturbing disappearances which have taken place in this region,” Chambéry Prosecutor Thierry Dran told reporters.

No motive has been found by police for the Alps murders despite exhaustive investigations in Britain, France and Iraq. Investigators have previously suggested the murderer’s profile could be military.

Other potential cases that may be linked to Lelandais involve Adrien Mourial, a 24-yearold Belgian citizen who went missing near Lake Annecy in July, and Jean-Christophe Morin and Ahmed Hamad, who vanished in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Lelandais has denied all charges against him, either replying calmly to questions while in custody or simply refusing to respond to allegations put to him by investigators.