Biker arrested over 2012 Alps deaths released without charge

FRENCH police have released without charge a man detained for questioning over the murder of a British family in the Alps in 2012, dealing another blow to hopes of solving the killings.

Line Bonnet, prosecutor in the city of Annecy, said: “The explanations provided and the verifications made have enabled us to rule out his potential participation in the events.”

The unnamed 57-year-old’s lawyer, Jean-christophe Basson-larbi, said his client was “relieved” after “going through almost 48 hours of hell” in what he called a “brutal” police interrogation.

According to French media, the released man is a motorcyclist with a goatee who was spotted leaving the area at the time of the killing and identified thanks to an unusual black helmet, only a few thousand of which had been made.

Questioned in 2015, the biker – a married businessman from Lyon – said he had been on his way home after a paragliding trip, and was ruled out of the inquiry. It was described at the time as a major setback for police, who had focused much of their attention on him.

Saad al-hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and his mother-in-law Suhaila al-allaf, 74, were shot dead while on holiday in Chevaline, near Annecy, on September 5 2012. They were killed in a forest carpark as they tried to escape in their BMW car.

French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, also died in the bloodbath, after being shot seven times at point-blank range.

Several people have been detained as part of investigations into the case over the years – with theories ranging from it having been a hit on the Al-hilli family related to Saad’s work on Iraqi engineering projects, to their being bystanders in the assassination of the cyclist.