In September 2012, Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife, Iqbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were all shot dead on a road near Lake Annecy in eastern France. A 45-year-old cyclist by the name of Sylvain Mollier was also killed. The al-Hilli family's two young daughters' - Zeena and Zainab - were spared, despite sustaining injuries.
The bodies of the four victims were discovered by Brett Martin, a British ex-RAF pilot, a resident in France, while he was out riding his bicycle. Despite this, he heard nothing of the shots. Following the incident, the first person that he saw was seven-year-old Zainab, who was stumbling into the road and collapsed in front of the family's car. She had been shot in the shoulder and also suffered a head wound.
The shocking case quickly became the subject of an international manhunt and earlier this year, a man was arrested in Annecy but was later released and eliminated from inquiries. A new Channel 4 documentary series, titled Murder In The Alps, explores developments in the case. Read on to find out everything you need to know about the tragic case ahead of the new three-part series.
What happened on the day of the murder?
During the horrific attack, which took place in a lay-by on the mountain-side road at around 3.45pm on September 5 2005, 25 shots were fired in total. Cyclist Sylvain Mollier, who was shot seven times, was also killed near the al-Hilli family's BMW. Ballistic analyses of the cartridge cases and butt plate fragments showed that the weapon used by the killer was a Luger P06 semi-automatic pistol (model 1906) firing the 7.65x21mm Parabellum ammunition with an eight round magazine.
Following the shootings, Zeena, who was four years old at the time, was discovered hiding under her mother’s body inside the car, while Zainab was injured after being shot and beaten.
The bodies of Iraqi-born engineer Mr al-Hilli and his dentist wife, who lived in Claygate, Surrey, were discovered along with that of Mrs al-Hilli’s mother in their BMW on a remote forest route. The family had travelled to France for a camping trip.
In an unrelated occurrence, Mrs al-Hilli’s previous husband, who was known as 'James T', died from a heart attack on the same day as the couple, but police said there was no link to the murders.
Following the murders, former British Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I have spoken to the British ambassador in France and consular staff are working very hard so that we do everything we can... and to find out what happened in this very tragic case."
This sentiment was echoed by former French President, François Hollande, who said at the time: "Both the French and the British family have been impacted by this terrible event and we will do our utmost to find the perpetrators, to find the reasons behind that event. Our police are co-operating and everything that is found will be shared".
What happened next?
Since 2012, there have been a number of arrests and lines of inquiry in the case but as of 2022, no one has been charged and the case remains unsolved. Previously in 2017, five years after the murders, French police said they had “no working theory” that could what exactly happened in Annecy.
Suspects previously arrested in connection with the case include an Iraqi prisoner, known simply as 'Mr S', who claimed that he had been offered “a large sum of money” to kill Iraqis that were living in the UK. Mr al-Hilli’s brother, Zaid, was also arrested on suspicion of the murder in 2013 but was later told he would face no further action after police found there was 'insufficient evidence' to charge him.
Later in the case, French Police looked into whether suspected serial killer, Nordahl Lelandais, 34, could be behind the murders. Lelandais is an ex-soldier and the main suspect in two other cases. He has been in custody since September 2017, as part of the investigation of the disappearance and death of the de Araujo child in the Chambéry region of south-eastern France. He has been charged with kidnapping and murder of the girl. Prosecutors have also charged Lelandais with the killing of Arthur Noyer, a 24-year-old soldier, who vanished after hitchhiking from a disco in Chambéry in 2017.
In January 2022, a man was arrested in connection with the murders. Along with the arrest, house searches were also conducted and detectives were reexamining the alibis of the suspect. However, he was later released after prosecutors said the man had been ruled out as the killer.
The three-part documentary series, Murder In The Alps, will start on Channel 4 at 9pm on Sunday, June 26. It will re-examine the case with the use of archive footage and interviews with victims’ friends and family, witnesses, former suspects.
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