ALPS MURDERS: ‘WITNESS’ HELD
Cops interview suspect after reconstruction
FRENCH police have arrested a man in connection with the murder of a British family in the French Alps 10 years ago.
In a dramatic development in the long-running case, the suspect was detained by officers early yesterday morning – just a few months after a new reconstruction at the scene of the brutal crime above Lake Annecy.
Annecy prosecutor Line BonnetMathis said the suspect was held so that detectives could check his movements.
Surrey satellite engineer Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and his motherin-law Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were gunned down at a remote lay-by inside their BMW car on September 5, 2012.
Each victim had been shot several times at point-blank range by someone armed with an antique Luger pistol.
French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, also died in the bloodbath, after being shot seven times at point blank range in an apparent targeted assassination. The al-Hillis’ youngest daughter, Zeena, four, hid in the footwell of the vehicle and was unscathed. She was only discovered by forensic officers the following morning. Her elder sister, Zainab, seven at the time, was shot once and pistol-whipped, but later recovered from her serious injuries. It is believed the arrested man has been questioned before as a witness. The initial focus of the original prosecutor in 2012 was on theories that a long-running feud between Saad and his elder brother Zaid might have been a motive for the killings. Zaid was arrested in Guildford, Surrey, and questioned but he was released without charge after being held on bail for several months. Other theories surrounding the al-Hillis’ Iraqi heritage and Saad’s profession were also later ruled out as serious lines of enquiry. Last year, cops said they were investigating a possible link between the murders and a bungling gang of Paris contract killers. Police are set to release a further statement on the arrest once they have finished questioning the man.