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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Sam Cook

Murder in the Alps: Who killed the al-Hilli family?

New Channel 4 series, Murder In The Alps, will explore the horrific case of the Annecy shootings, which saw four people lose their lives in 2012. Nearly 10 years on and questions still remain as to what happened during the fateful day.

In September 2012, three members of a British-Iraqi family from Surrey, the al-Hillis, were gunned down in cold blood. A French cyclist who happened upon the scene of the crime was also shot dead. Whilst father Saad, his wife, Iqbal, and her mother Suhalia, succumbed to their injuries, the couple's daughters Zainab and Zeena, survived. Zainab, who was seven-years-old at the time, was attacked by the assailant and her sister Zeena, 4, hid behind her mother's corpse.

The Annecy murders of 2012 have become somewhat of a true-crime mystery. The new Channel 4 three-part documentary series, explores some of the people who could've been responsible for the shootings. Whilst no one has yet been charged, a number of people have been arrested on suspicion of being involved.

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Who killed the al-Hilli family?

The Annecy shootings murder scene in September 2012 (Phil Harris)

The question of who killed the al-Hilli family is one that currently remains unanswered. Arrests have been made over the years but no one has been charged.

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.

French police have also questioned suspected serial-killer Nordahl Lelandais, a 34-year-old ex-soldier, could be behind the crime as he had been suspected of killing two other people in the area around the same time.

Earlier this year, 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.

Murder in the Alps begins on Channel 4 on Sunday, June 26 at 9pm. It will subsequently air for two further weeks at the same time.

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