Brother of Brit shot dead in Alps accuses French of cover-up amid new DNA hope

01 June 2024 , 10:25

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Saad Al-Hilli was a much-loved father from Surrey (Image: family archive)

The brother of a British tourist who was shot dead in the Alps alongside his wife and mother-in-law has accused the French authorities of a cover-up.

The deaths of Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife, Iqbal, 47, and mother-in-law, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, have remained notorious mysteries for nearly 12 years since. Each was shot three times, at least once in the head in the massacre near Lake Annecy, eastern France, in which a French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, was also killed.

Saad and Iqbal's daughter Zainab, aged seven at the time, was shot in the shoulder but survived, while their youngest daughter Zeena, aged four at the time, was found uninjured under her dead mother's skirt in the back seat. The family, from Claygate, Surrey, had driven to Lake Annecy for a camping trip in September 2012.

French investigators are carrying out a cold case review and have ordered DNA tests on the clothes worn by Mollier and Iqbal along with ten cigarette butts found in the area, it has emerged this week. The investigators believe the gunman had received shoot-to-kill training.

Saad's brother, Zaid Al-Hilli, said he hoped the review would lead to a breakthrough in the case, which is one of the highest-profile unsolved crimes in Europe. However, he called the original investigation a "deception - an attempt to deceive us".

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Police surround the family's BMW in which they were shot in the French Alps (Phil Harris)

He told The Times: "The original investigation was a deception, to attempt to deceive us. It was a local crime and has been covered up. They made allegations against me without any evidence. There was no attempt to look at a local motive right from the start."

A ballistics report had suggested Mr Mollier, a father of three, was the intended victim. Zaid's family lawyer, William Bourdon, one of the most celebrated in France, said it would probably take a "stroke of luck" to find the killer. He continued: "Maybe with the passing of time, people who have kept silent will start to talk."

Zaid said: "I hope there can finally be justice for my brother and his family." In November, French investigators said they were looking for a mystery motorcyclist who was seen near the crime scene. One lead in tracing the man was that he was wearing an unusual helmet, only a few thousand of which had been made.

Bradley Jolly