Was this industrial espionage, a family dispute, or the perfect crime?

Case 272: The Annecy Shootings

On September 5 2012, a cyclist driving through the French Alps came upon a shocking scene. Married couple Saad and Iqbal al-Hilli, along with Iqbal’s elderly mother Suhaila al-Allaf, were shot execution-style while sitting in their BMW in a secluded parking spot in the woods surrounding Chevaline. 7-year-old Zainab al-Hilli clung to life on the ground nearby, while 4-year-old Zeena al-Hilli was nowhere to be seen. A local cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, was also fatally shot in the brutal killing spree.

An international investigation quickly raised more questions than it did answers. What were the victims doing in this isolated area? Had they been targeted as part of some sinister activity, or were they killed at random by a lone psychopath?

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host
Research & writing – Elsha McGill
Creative direction – Milly Raso
Production and music – Mike Migas
Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website

Home

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/casefile
Twitter
Tweets by case_file
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast
Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/casefile
Casefile Presents

Home

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-272-the-annecy-shootings

#casefilepodcast #truecrime #truecrimepodcast

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support and for a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our Website the afternoon of Wednesday September 5th 2012 was a pleasant one in shalene a small wooded Community located in the French Alps region of ort Sao sharing nearby borders with Switzerland and Italy the area is known for its Mountain Landscapes and the medieval towns that dot Lake Anese a

Sparkling body of water considered to be the cleanest Lake in Europe in the warmer months visitors from all over flock to the region to bask in the Tranquil surroundings swim in the clear waters and enjoy everything that lake annesse has to offer British retiree Brett Martin had a holiday house not far from

Sherlene he took advantage of the sunny weather and took off on his mountain bike for a leisurely ride through the village of roughly 207 residents he passed by the sprinkling of Old Country Homes and pastures before the only thing on either side of him was Woodland about 10 minutes outside of

Shene brat turned onto Kum Deere a steep uneven road that wound uphill through dense uninhabited forests and pasted rushing streams Brad had done the trip before he knew that there were no other turnoff until the three 3 km Mark when the public road gave way to a clearing called the

Martiner this served as a small secluded parking area and was typically used as a starting point for visitors to explore the surrounding walking tracks and hiking trails it also signaled the end of the public road from lur martiner Kum Deere became a restricted route marked with a no

Entry sign although hikers commonly used the route the only vehicles with authorization to access it were forestry workers brat powered on until L martiner clearing was in sight by this point it was roughly 3:55 p.m. he looked ahead and noticed something in the middle of the road a lightweight racing

Bicycle Brett wondered why its owner would have left it there but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a young dark-haired girl stumbled out onto the road she she was covered in blood her head and shoulder clearly injured brat watched her sway from side to side before she collapsed face first onto the Ground Brett rushed to the girl’s Aid her eyes were rolling around as though she was about to lose Consciousness Brett was a former Royal Air Force pilot and he used his first aid knowledge to gently move the girl off the road and place her in the recovery position that’s when he noticed the

Maroon BMW Series 5 station wagon stopped to the left of the parking area facing the road Ro the same vehicle had passed Brett just a few minutes earlier he’d remembered it because it had British license plates and it was rightand to drive now its engine was revving as one

Of its rear wheels spun in a mound of gravel on the ground in front of the BMW a middle-aged man was lying in a pool of blood Brett recognized the man as the owner of the discarded bicycle the two had passed one another to towards the start of Kum Deere Brad

Had initially tried to keep up with the other cyclist but had given up and lingered back at his own pace thinking that the cyclist and car must have collided Brett’s immediate thought was that the revving bam W could Lurch forward at any moment and cause further injury to the

Psychist he rushed to move the man out of the way only to realize that he hadn’t been hit by the car at all he’d been shot multiple times in the head Brett realized that the BMW’s windows were riddled with bullet holes he moved closer only to see that the interior of

The vehicle was covered with blood inside a middle-aged male was slumped over in the driver’s seat in the back seat was a middle-aged woman with an elderly woman beside her all three had been shot in the head brat smashed the bullet ridden driver side window and reached in to turn off the

Ignition he took out his mobile phone to call for help but there was no reception he faced a dilemma did he leave the wounded girl there or did he attempt to take her with him and risk worsening her injuries scared that the shooter was still in the area and could Target him

Next Brett got back on his bike and rode for help leaving the injured girl by the side of the road within minutes Brett Martin encountered a car full of French hikers who were able to get a mobile signal and summon Emergency Services paramedics rescue personnel and

Teams of police sped to the area the wounded girl was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition as doctors assessed her injuries they realized that she’d received a gunshot wound to the shoulder before being brutally beaten in the head her orbital bone was fractured and her skull was cracked resulting in a

Traumatic brain injury the girl was put into an induced coma while surgeons tried desperately to save her life but there was nothing to be done for the cyclist or those inside the BMW all four were pronounced the dead at the scene a cursory search of the woods surrounding the crime scene was

Conducted with a helicopter passing overhead nothing was found to indicate the shooter was still in the area police at the scene decided it was best to wait for the specialist forensic team to arrive from Paris before examining the interior of the vehicle the car windows were so badly

Cracked by bullet holes that a single movement could cause one to collapse thus damaging crucial evidence the deceased psychist still had his wallet on him which led to him being identified as 45-year-old Silvan molier the quiet and reserved father of three lived just 20 km east of shalene in the small town of

Uin silvan’s partner CLA had recently given birth to a baby boy a dedicated father Silvan had Tak an extended paternity Le from his job as a production worker to take care of his young son and two teenage children from a previous marriage Silvan was a keen cyclist who

Enjoyed riding the local trails that afternoon he’d wanted to try a new route so he headed up the Kum Deere Road at the recommendation of Claire’s father the British registered BMW was traced back to L Sol Dak a campsite roughly 14 km north of Kum dear the

Occupants of the BMW were identified as 50-year-old sad Al hilly an Iraqi born British citizen who lived in the English Village of claygate the two women in the back seat were his wife 47-year-old Iraqi born ikbal Al hilly and ik bal’s 74-year-old mother sua Al alaf the injured girl was

The couple’s seven-year-old daughter Zab a caravan registered to sard Al hilly remained exactly where the family had left it parked alongside their tent the owner of the campsite told the police that the alhilly family had checked in the previous day of Tuesday September setember 4 they’d actually

Arrived in the area on Saturday but had stayed at a different campsite for two nights before moving to L Solita duac the owner recalled nothing unusual about the family’s Behavior sad had asked about good walking trails in the area to which the owner had recommended the general area

Around sherlene but hadn’t signaled out a specific location other guests told the police that the alhilly seemed like an ordinary family on vacation the guests who were camping next to them recalled the two little girls playing happily when the questioning officers heard this they froze two little

Girls there had only been one young girl found at the crime scene 7-year-old Zab there was only one child seat inside the BMW so investigators hadn’t even thought to check the vehicle for a second child cursory Searchers of the area hadn’t revealed any sign of another victim this left two

Possibilities either the second Al hilly daughter had run into the woods to escape the shooter and was still out there somewhere or she’d been abducted by this point it was nearing midnight authorities had been gathered at the crime scene for close to 8 hours The Specialist forensic team had just

Arrived from Paris and one officer finally opened the back door of the DW there cing silently underneath ikbal Al Hilly’s skirt was her 4-year-old daughter Zena the young girl was terrified but unharmed for 8 hours she’d been frozen in fear unable to grasp the Carnage that had taken place around

Her smiling with relief at finally being found Zena looked up and said where’s Mommy I want my mommy at no point during the attack had Zena exited the car so she couldn’t tell the investigators much all she remembered was hearing loud noises before quickly hiding on the floor investigators hoped her older

Sister would be more helpful but whether zanab would recover remained to be seen in the meantime the priority remained on catching the killer if the SHO was a random attack conducted by a deranged individual a quick arrest was needed to stop them from striking again the deceased inside the BMW was

Still in possession of their wallets mobile phones and a digital camera this ruled out robbery as a motive for the killings but strangely their passports were nowhere to be found either in their car or at their campsite a forensic search for fingerprints DNA or any other Clues came

Up empty all the police had to go by were the spent bullet casings 21 of which were found at the scene using the ballistics and limited physical evidence investigators deduced that after arriving at L martiner sard and 7-year-old zanab likely got out of the car perhaps to examine a map of the

Area that was posted to the side of the parking spot at the same time svan Molly air cycled up unbeknownst to all of them the shooter was hiding nearby likely in a nearby Gully or the surrounding trees suddenly the shots began it was unclear who was shot first

But one bullet struck sard in the back while another knocked svan to the ground sard then ran back to his BMW yelling at little zanab to do the same slamming and locking the door he reversed in a semicircle Direction trying desperately to escape the onslaught in the process he clipped svan

Molier sard’s retire got stuck in a mount of dirt leaving his family Stranded the shooter then approached the vehicle from their Hiding Place with careful callous Precision they shot sad ikbal and sua through the side windows both sad and B was shot four times while suala sustained three

Gunshots all three of them were shot twice directly in the middle of the forehead the killer then returned their attention to Silvan molier pulling the trigger four more times they stood over his body shooting him execution style directly between the eyes investigators weren’t sure at what point 7-year-old Zab was shot judging by

The injuries to her head the killer had likely either run out of bullets or their gun had jamed before they were able to finish what they started instead they used the barrel of the gun to bash the child over the head the entire Ambush likely lasted

Less than 60 seconds of the 21 shots fired during that time 17 of them had hit the victims in the attack on zanab a piece of RP from the gun handle had broken off coupled with the bullet casings this allowed investigators to identify the murder weapon as a semi-automatic luga

P6 the Swiss model service pistol had been a standard issue to members of the Swiss Army and police in the 1920s and 30s it was an odd choice for a shooting spree the kind of gun more likely to be found in a museum or private collection rather than used to commit a brutal

Crime despite its age it was still considered to be an incredibly accurate and reliable weapon allowing up to 48 shots to be fired in under 30 seconds only eight cartridges could be loaded at once with 21 shots fired this meant that the lur martiner Shooter had reloaded twice during the

Attack given that they’ managed to do so while hitting all of their targets and without hitting the body of the moving BMW police were certain of one thing whoever was responsible was an experienced and skilled shooter who fully intended to hit each one of their Victims news of the slanging spread throughout the Anese region where violent crimes were mostly unheard of cholene and its surroundings were considered incredibly safe the type of place where residents didn’t bother to lock their doors there were only 70 homes in sherlene making it easy for police to question every

Household other than Brad Martin nobody had witnessed anything that could be of use to the investigation or had suspicions about who the perpetrator might be except for a trio of Forestry workers as reported exclusively by BBC’s Panorama program one forestry worker was driving down Kum Deere Road shortly

Before the shootings when they passed L Martin a parking area to the left of the clearing they saw a large motorcycle pulled over on the side of the road it was black and white with paniers on the side the driver was dressed all in black including a distinct a dark

Helmet with a visor that was pulled down covering their face completely as the forestry worker continued down the public portion of the road they soon passed another vehicle a metallic gray BMW W 4-wheel drive they believed it to be British as it was right-hand drive the car was in good clean

Condition and was being driven by a slightly barding male with dark skin the forestry worker was taken about by how fast the car was driving on the narrow road 10 minutes later two other forestry workers were coming down the restricted Road above L martiner when they too

Crossed paths with the large black and white motorcycle given that public Vehicles were forbidden from entering this section of the road they waved the motorcycl us down the rider’s helmet was distinct in that it had a hinged visor that could be opened sideways to allow the wearer to

Hold a conversation without having to remove their helmet the rider pulled the visor across revealing he was a white male with a goaty and heavy brow he said nothing as the forestry workers told him to to turn around and drive back down brat Martin the psychist who

Discovered the bodies had also seen this motorcycle coming down the Kum Deere Road as he struggled up the hill just before 3:55 p.m. Brett didn’t recall seeing the metallic gray BMW but he did have a vague recollection of a large four-wheel drive passing him at some point along his

Journey based on these timings it was to Ju that brat had stumbled upon the crime scene within a mere minute of the shootings he hadn’t heard any of the gunshots because the sound had been masked by the white noise of the Rushing River the only people who had heard the

Shots were a local Father and Son but they hadn’t given it much thought hunting season was coming up so they just assumed Hunters were out testing their rifles neither brat nor the trio of French hikers who arrived at the scene short shortly after the shooting recalled seeing anyone pass them down the

Hill this presented two possibilities either the man on the motorcycle was the Killer and he brazenly fled via the public road even after knowing he’d been spotted in the area or the killer was someone else entirely and they’d fled via the woods or the restricted route just around the bend from the

Martiner although the rough narrow road was clearly marked with a no entry sign it was still easily accessible a person on foot motorcycle bike or four-wheel drive could have made their way down the rugged terrain to the other side of the mountain within an hour even a regular car could have made

The journey if the driver was willing to accept pothole damage to their vehicle from there there were plenty of possible Escape Routes with Italy and Switzerland just a short distance away police considered whether whether the motorcyclist could have been working in conjunction with the metallic gray four-wheel drive a suspect sketch was

Drawn up based on the forestry workers recollection but police decided to withhold the image out of fear that it could spook the motorcyclist and sent him on the Run less than 48 hours after the shooting the crime scene was teeming with local and international media this was a major news story and

The public were hungry for information local police have been Sworn to Silence and the only individual involved with the French investigation who was allowed to speak publicly about the case was ansy prosecutor Eric Mayu Mayu confirmed to the press that the police were working hard to determine a motive all they knew for

Certain was that quote it was clearly an act of extreme savagery and it was obvious that who did this wanted to kill the French President vowed that everything would be done to find the person responsible given that the crime was committed on French soil against British citizens French authorities joined

Investigators from the UK to try and answer the prevailing question was this a random attack or did someone want the alhilly family Dead fad Al hilly one of life’s greatest Pleasures was spending quality time with his family he’d met his wife ikbal 9 years prior in Abu Dhabi where ikbal had been living at the time they married quickly and moved into sard’s childhood home in the British Village of claygate

Where they settled down to raise a family ikbal put her career as a dentist on hold to be stay-at-home mom to their two young daughters the trip to the French Alps had been a spur of the- moment decision sad had business to tend to in the Swiss city of

Geneva which was just across the border from Anese even though Zab and Zena were due to return to school after summer holidays sard recognized it as an opportunity for a short Family Getaway he adored France and had stayed in the Alps region a few times before it also gave him an opportunity

To take his beloved Caravan out on the road sard worked as a freelance engineer and he had a hobby for tinkering with mechanical Parts he developed a passion for caravanning after He restored a damaged Caravan to its former glory he’d since purchased a new one and have

Jumped at any chance to use it sometimes he’d take his family to stay at the local campsite just 10 mies from their home just to enjoy a change of scenery the family invited B’s mother sua Al alaf to join them on their last minute French getaway the 74-year-old lived in Sweden

But was staying with her other daughter who lived an hour away from the AL hilles in Southern England once word got out that the victims lived in claygate the medor attention in Britain was immense claygate was an affluent family oriented suburb 14 Mi Southwest of London a local family being the targets

Of international shooting was Sensational news both of sard’s parents had passed away in recent years but reporters gathered outside the flat of his only sibling older brother zahed AR hilly zahed couldn’t think of anyone who would want to harm sad or his family likewise other friends of the

Family confirmed there was nothing UNT war in the alhilly household sad and ikbal were both kind and gentle and their children were happy and well adjusted however there was one family member who raised some red flags ik bal’s brother haar lived in Sweden with their mother suala and was

Schizophrenic as a result of his mental illness reports revealed that haah had a history of threatening and beating suala and that she lived in constant fear of him investigators considered whether hadar’s mental instability could have led him to orchestrate the shootings they looked into his whereabouts at the time of the crime

Only to learn that he’d been receiving psychiatric treatment in England when the murders occurred giving him an airtight Alibi although sad had been living in the UK since he was a young boy and was legally considered a British citizen his ethnic Origins were examined in detail anasty prosecutor Eric Mayu told reporters the fact that he was born in Iraq that he had family in Iraq of course that’s

Something that is of interest and we are asking ourselves if there is a link between that and his death a search of the ailles Caravan at Les Solitaire Dak campsite revealed that sad had been traveling with a laptop and several thumb drives when investigators checked the contents they found numerous

Files filled with technical data and sensitive information Rel to some freelance work sard had been doing for a British company that sold satellites the data he’d saved went well beyond what was required for his job his laptop also had tracking software installed on it which meant anyone with

Access to it could trace his movements given his connections with Iraq investigators considered whether sad could have been selling the satellite technology and other industry secrets to countries who wanted to use them against the West perhaps he’d traded secrets and been killed to ensure his silence or he’d refused to hand the

Information over and had been targeted as a result sard’s employers denied that he was involved with any confidential projects there was nothing in his job that carried any risk nor did it require him to sign the official Secrets act those who knew sad were incredulous at the suggestion that he could be

Involved with industrial espion Arch he was a hardworking devoted father who enjoyed cycling and playing badminton in his spare time and was always willing to help out a friend or neighbor in need sad was also outspoken and enjoyed debating his sociopolitical views so he would have made a lousy

Spy there was no way he was involved in top secret work but farad’s neighbor Phillip news of of sard’s death immediately brought him back to 2003 at the time the US and British Armed Forces had just invaded Iraq the police had approached Philip and asked if they could use his driveway

To keep watch of the alil home they spent all day parked there watching the house where sad and his brother Zed were living together at the time anytime sard drove away the undercover police followed him Philip never knew KN why they were watching the brothers nor did he ever warn them that

They were being spied on but it left him curious on Saturday September 8th 2012 3 days after the shootings officers made their way inside the two-story mock Judah home belonging to the alhilly family They confiscated various items of computer equipment sard had converted the garden shed behind the house into a

Makeshift office and several potential hazardous items were found inside that made officers nervous the bomb squad was called in as a precautionary measure and the property was cordoned off while nearby residents were forced to evacuate it was a false alarm none of the items turned out to be

Dangerous however there were a couple of other things that raised suspicion inside the house police found a taser the weapon was illegal and it seemed strange that a quiet family with no enemies would be armed with such a protective item furthermore the locks on the house had recently been changed and

A new security alarm system had been installed whatever the reason it appeared that sard Al hilly was nervous about something as investigators hustled to past together a clear picture of sad and his background 7-year-old Zab El hilly woke up from her induced coma the young girl was making a strong

Recovery but was still in a very delicate State investigators had to tread carefully when questioning her Zab recalled that on the day of the murders her father had asked what she’d rather do that day go shopping in town or go for a walk in the woods Zab chose the

Ladder Beyond arriving at lur martiner and getting out of the car with her father Zab didn’t remember anything except seeing quote one bad man although she couldn’t be sure zanab also thought she might have seen a silhouette zanab was given the green light to return to the

UK both she and her younger sister Zena were held at a secret location and placed under strict police protection psychologists believed that Zab likely remembered more about the attack attack but had been so traumatized that her brain couldn’t yet process the information investigators had to accept that their star witness didn’t hold the

Key to solving the crime instead they sourced archive images of the sherlene region from every satellite company in Europe and studied the stills from the day of the shootings they obtained CCTV footage from the route the alhilly family would have taken from claygate to their campsite in France combing through

Footage captured from gas stations tll roads and Ferry terminals for a glimpse of the family’s maroon BMW they compared still images to see if the BMW was being tailed but at no point did the same vehicle appear behind the family twice that didn’t rule out the possibility that someone had tracked

Their movements and followed them from their campsite up the K Deere Road but had they done so they would have had to have have sound local knowledge of the area to be able to facilitate a quick getaway without being seen either the killer was a local which

Also explained their use of a local firearm or they’ done extensive research of the area beforehand 8 days into the investigation French prosecutor Eric Mayu told reporters that although the motive and perpetrator’s identity remained unclear there was no doubt that the reasons for the crime originated in

England the theory that sad was involved with industrial Espionage gained traction and became a gold mine for the British tabloids while the authorities continued to follow this as a genuine possibility another more plausible lead emerged the previous September sad had written a letter to a childhood friend

Following the death of his father in it he talked about his relationship with his older brother zahed sad wrote zahed and I do not communicate anymore as he is another control freak and tried a lot of underhanded things even when my father was alive he tried to take control of

Father’s assets and demanded control it’s a long story and I have just had to wipe him out of my life sad but I need to concentrate now on my wife and two lovely girls in contrast zahed Al hilly told the British investigators that he and his brother had a good

Relationship after Zed’s wife passed away from ovarian cancer in 2007 sad invited zahed to temporarily move in with his wife and daughters in claygate Zed’s adult son had left home and sad thought it would do his brother good to be surrounded by loved ones during his time of

Grief zahed and ended up staying for over a year during which he cherished getting to bond with the Zab and theena the brothers falling out was confirmed by other friends of ss it all started when their father cardim Mal hilly passed away in August 2011 at the time of his death cardim

Lived in Spain he left his estate to his two sons who would receive a 50/50 split of the claygate home as well as Kim’s Spanish flat given that sad and his family were already living in the claygate property which was valued at around £800,000 zahed wanted sad to buy him out zahed

Also wanted to increase his share of the Spanish flat to 75% sad felt this was totally unfair and refused to accept Zed’s demands tensions escalated and things came to a head in October of 2011 zahed was still living in the claygate home at the time but was

Looking for his own place to move into a physical altercation broke out between the two brothers that resulted in sad calling the police shortly after sad changed the locks the brothers both obtained lawyers to represent their interests in their father’s estate and all future contact was handled by

Mediators sad ordered a freeze on his father’s will ensuring That zahed Couldn’t claim any of the money until the dispute was resolved in an online chat with his friend James Sad called Zed an who was motivated by greed he said he had reason to believe Zed was involved

In tax evasion and fraud and was prepared to use the information against Zed if need be sad also told James that some valuable items went missing from his home while zahed was living there which is why he changed the locks when sad was killed he hadn’t spoken to

His brother in almost a year the fact that zahed had initially told police that the two had a good relationship raised major red flags for investigators when confronted with the evidence that indicated otherwise Zed conceded that there were Financial disputes but maintained that the two were otherwise

Close he denied being involved in a feud with his brother saying that their disagreement regard in money wasn’t personal zahed had a verified Alibi for the day of the murders he had been at the seaside with a friend eating ice cream and browsing the local shops while this proved Zed wasn’t the

One who pulled the trigger that led police to question whether he could have organized someone else to carry out the attack on his behalf the slangs had all the Hallmarks of a professional hit a precise experienced gunman firing round into the foreheads of each of his victims but if Zed and sad weren’t

Talking how would a hired killer notif find the AL hilles in that secluded part of the French Alps the luga pistol was the only tangible clue but there were roughly 30,000 of these weapons in Switzerland alone given that the murder scene was 30 mi from the Swiss border and the gun

Used was Swiss authorities in Geneva were also brought in to assist they discovered that the business sard Al hilly intended to take care of in Switzerland related to a private bank account held in his father’s name sad had called the bank on Monday 2 days before his death and spoke of his

Intentions to visit this was noteworthy given there had been questionable activity on the account in the past sard’s father card malilly had set up the account in 1988 making a sizable deposit that was now Worth close to €1 million the account had barely been touched since which is why One Bank

Employee flagged it as strange when someone in England applied for a credit card linked to the account just one year before kadine passed away the employee examined the application form and noticed that the applicant signature differed from the one they had on file the bank contacted Kim who denied ever making the

Request a Swiss prosecutor publicly stated that the person who fraudulently tried to acquire the credit card was none other than Zed Al hilly he claimed that zahed had forged his father’s signature in an attempt to gain access to the money in the Geneva account speaking to journalist Tom Perry

For his book The Perfect Crime zahed strongly denied to this allegation maintaining that his father had been the one who applied for the credit card regardless the Revelation that the ailles had a so-called secret bank account in Switzerland immediately added to the speculation surrounding the case

If the family had nothing to hide some wondered why they were squirreling money away in an offshore account 6 and A2 weeks after the shootings s ikbal and sua were laid to rest in a private ceremony held in the Shia Muslim section of Brookwood Cemetery 20 mi north of claygate with

Armed guards keeping watch Days Later readers of French newspaper lont opened their papers to find The Sensational headline the potential links between the AL Hillis and Saddam Hussein according to the article the Swiss bank account had led the German secret service to uncover a link between kadim Al hilly and the former Iraqi

Dictator shortly before Saddam Hussein’s execution in 2006 he reportedly withdrew over 600 million from the Iraqi Central Bank and deposited in secret bank accounts around the world including Switzerland the money smuggling was thought to be assisted by Iraqi Nationals who lived abroad lemond theorized that kadim could

Have worked as one of Saddam Hussein’s conduits and Assad had gotten himself killed by trying to access the money those close to the alhilly family scoffed at what they saw to be malicious rumors it was because of Saddam Hussein’s regim that the aillis had been forced to flee Iraq in the first

Place kadim had been a successful lawyer turned businessman he Dem Master a healthy profit selling tissue paper and poultry any money he’d hidden away was well and truly earned to suggest he’d helped laund money for the dictator was hurtful to the surviving Relatives this wild Theory quickly disappeared from the headlines but it contributed to the growing narrative that sad was involved in some kind of Nefarious activity that had contributed to the murders it was also revealed that he’d held some radical political beliefs which he’d shared online in various Arabic chat

Forums this led to public speculation that sad could have been the victim of a state sponsored assassination a theory fueled by the fact that both sad and ik bal’s passports were still nowhere to be found police had searched their home car and Caravan as well as police stations

Lost and found officers and hotels along the Route the alil family had taken on their holiday but the passports had mysteriously disappeared some speculated that the killer could have taken them as some kind of trophy or proof of their hit similar assassinations had been carried out in the past but those

Involved had been associated with Weaponry development or the military and were deemed to be a threat to National Security there was nothing in sard’s background to indicate he fit this bill furthermore if a Hitman really did want sard dead a didn’t make sense that they would also attack his wife mother-in-law and

Children while some investigators were convinced that the crime had the Hallmarks of a contract killing others thought otherwise if the killer was a professional Skeptics to the Hitman Theory wondered why the shooter had used such an Antiquated weapon the fact that they’d managed not to hit the moving BMW proved their

Proficiency as a shooter but their first shots had missed sard when he was standing outside of the vehicle if sard really was the intended target the shooter had botched the hit from the very beginning also sad ikbal and suala had all been stuck in the car making them

Easy targets for the gunman standing directly outside anyone with decent firearm proficiency was capable of shooting them at such close range in investigators considered whether sad could have been lured to L martiner by someone under false pretenses his phone and emails records were checked but nothing was found to indicate a pre-planned

Meeting a guest who was staying at the same campsite as the AL hilles recalled seeing sad having a heated exchange with a man of Bulan appearance although this interaction couldn’t be verified it fueled speculation that a contract killer could have traveled from the former Yugoslavia it was rumored that Eastern

European Hitmen could reportedly be hired on the dark web for as little as a few hundred these men had been hardened during armed conflicts and some were willing to use their lethal expertise for financial gain it was possible that a master Contract Killer could have traveled to France via Road executed the

Hit and then disappeared back into their home country as quickly as they came without drawing any attention to themselves for investigators the financial dispute between the alil brothers gave zahed a compelling motive to want sard and his family out of the picture but if Zed had hired someone to

Perform the hit why hadn’t the gunman completed the job by killing zanab and Zena the surviving daughters would inherit sard’s estate meaning zahed had very little to gain while all of these theories were compelling none of them quite added up this left investigators with no choice but to consider another possibility

Entirely what if sard wasn’t the intended target after All ikbal Al hilly had become a secondary player in this giant media story that centered mostly around her husband at first glance she was a quiet reserved stay-at-home mother who put great importance on her Muslim faith but as police looked into Wick bal’s background they discovered she harbored a

Secret on sard and ick bal’s marriage certificate ikbal listed herself as previously unmarried but this wasn’t true not only had ikal been married before she was still legally married at the time that she and sard tied the night in 2003 in 1999 ikbal had moved to the United

States to pursue a Dentistry job before long a friend introduced her to a man named Jimmy Thompson an oil worker and Harley-Davidson Enthusiast 20 years her senior the two hit it off and married quickly ikbal moved into Jimmy’s house in Louisiana where she embraced a western lifestyle she went by the name

Kelly and spent her spare time running barbecuing with the Jimmy’s Family by the pool ikbal and Jimmy were happily married for 18 months after which ikbal suddenly left the US and returned to Abu Dhabi some believe she was simply homesick While others think she was under pressure from her family to marry

A Muslim man and take on a more traditional role it has also been speculated that her marriage to Jimmy was purely one of convenience so that ikbal could obtain a US screen card whatever the reason it wasn’t long before rck Bal and Assad were reportedly introduced by family members as part of

A mutually agreed upon arranged marriage as far as any of the AL hilles friends in England were aware sad had no idea that he was ik bal’s second husband they were shocked to learn that ikbal had lived a westernized somewhat outgoing life in the United States as

This was completely out of character for the cons conservative woman they knew in England she mostly kept to herself and was incredibly shy she didn’t even drive or go out to do the shopping investigators were curious to learn why ikbal had suddenly departed from the United States they attempted to make contact

With the Jimmy Thompson in Louisiana only to make another shocking Discovery Jimmy had passed away on the very same day that ikbal had been killed medical records stated that the overweight Jimmy had died of a heart attack while driving but when his family learned that ikbal had been murdered

Just hours beforehand they began to ask questions an official autopsy had never been conducted on Jimmy so what if he hadn’t died of natural causes after all as reported in the book The Perfect Crime Jimmy’s sister Judy was aware that ikal and Jimmy had kept in touch via

Email this contradicted reports from the AL hilles friends in England who said ikbal was a technophobe who refused to let sad set her up with an email address according to Judy when she went to check Jimmy’s email all of his messages had been erased the FBI got involved to explore

The possibility that Jimmy Thompson’s death was somehow linked to his ex-wife’s murder they even considered Exum his body to conduct an official autopsy But ultimately there was nothing to support the theory that Jimmy’s death was connected to the French shooting the fact that both he and his

Ex-wife had both died on the same day was deemed a mere coincidence regardless the fact that ikbal had managed to conceal a secret marriage left some wondering what other secrets she might be hiding very little was known about B’s mother suala alaf the 74-year-old widowed mother of

Four lived in the suburbs of Stockholm having moved to Sweden from Iraq in the mid 1980s with her husband Abdul and their son haah she was reportedly a quieted and private person investigators hadn’t been able to ascertain the exact reason why she had decided to join the AL hilles on their

Last minute French holiday due to her age and The Limited backgr ground information about her suala wasn’t an obvious choice when it came to investigators trying to determine which one of the victims had been the intended target but some suspicious elements quickly emerged that meant she couldn’t be crossed off

Entirely according to the book The Perfect Crime a search of sua’s personal computer revealed that it was fitted with spyware this meant that whoever had access to the spyware was able to remotely view every move that suala made on the computer installing the software would have required technological skills that

Suala wasn’t known to possess this raised the question of why anyone would want to keep tabs on the elderly woman’s online movements bank records didn’t reveal her to be a wealthy woman which made it even more confusing when sua’s home in Sweden was ransacked in the aftermath of the

Shootings several items were stolen including an assortment of personal documents and bank records investigators weren’t prepared to close the door on any lines of inquiry but the possibility that suala was the Target and her daughter’s family somehow got tied up in it went to the bottom of the

List another possibility was much more plausible from the outset of the investigation the family of the murdered cyclist Silvan molier had requested complete privacy to mourn his loss in peace because of this very little was known about him French investigators were confident that Silvan had just happened to be at

The wrong place at the wrong time others weren’t so sure Silvan had sustained more gunshots than any other victim five in total and he was the only victim who lived locally for British investigators it therefore made sense to consider that Silvan could have been the target while the AL hilles were collateral damage

Instead of the other way around until having recently taken an extended period of paternity leave Silvan molier worked at sazus a factory just outside of vesy that produced a nuclear components some wondered whether svan could have been selling nuclear secrets to other nations and had gotten in over

His head or angered an enemy who wanted to put a stop to his inv M it was even speculated that svan sad and the two were conspiring together to sell both their satellite and nuclear secrets but Silvan simply worked as a welder for sazus he wasn’t privy to any classified

Information there was nothing in his phone or email records to indicate that he’d arranged to meet anyone at L martiner nor was there any evidence that he and sad had ever crossed paths before it also turned out that sard wasn’t the only one allegedly embroiled in a bit of Feud over

Money the Sunday Times newspaper looked into silvan’s background and discovered that his partner CLA was from a wealthy local family CLA had recently received ownership of her father’s Pharmacy which was valued at just over1 million according to the newspaper cla’s family felt that Silvan was taking advantage of their wealth and sponging

Off their daughter when Silvan announced he was going to be taking up to 3 years off work and effectively living off cla’s income tensions reached a boiling point on the day of the shooting cla’s father recommended Silvan take the rude up Kum dear French investigators considered the possibility that this could have been

Part of an intentional plan to rid Silvan of any claim to the family fortune but cla’s family weren’t nearly as well off as reporters had claimed CLA hadn’t been given the pharmacy she had taken a loan out from her father and was paying it back slowly furthermore she and Silvan weren’t

Married meaning he wouldn’t have been legally entitled to any of her money the theory was ruled out it was impossible for forensic investigators to determine which of the four victims had been shot first but in one interpretation Silvan had sustained the first first bullet if true it was logical to assume

That he could have been the intended target but if money wasn’t the issue what was a friend of Silvan spoke to French newspaper lur Sava on the condition of anonymity they claimed that Silvan was known to be a bit of a ladies man according to the friend svan had once confided that

Quote he felt he had to be careful while walking down the street because he feared he would be shot French investigators considered whether svan could have been killed by a jealous spouse in a crime of passion but there was no evidence to indicate that his behavior extended Beyond harmless

Flirtation Anese prosecutor Eric Mayu told journalist Tom Perry we have examined his life from every possible angle in every aspect and we have found nothing which explains to us why anyone would want to get at this man the French remained convinced that the answer to all their questions most

Likely lay with the British victims but after extensive investigations another credible Theory started to gain serious traction what if no one had been targeted and all of the victims had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong Time it was entirely possible that a lone mentally ill gunman familiar with the area might have been lurking in weight ready to launch an attack on whoever was unfortunate enough to stumble upon L Martin first it might have been entirely coincidental that a carload of people

And a lone cyclist just so happened to arrive at the same time if the murders were the result of a random opportunistic attack the perpetrator’s firearm proficiency indicated they might have been military or a member of law enforcement and legally licensed to own a gun investigators in both France and

Switzerland examined psychiatric records on the lookout for anyone with a military background who also displayed homicidal Tendencies they tracked down recently released patients with prior convictions for gun violence or access to weapons but didn’t find anyone who fit the bill police also considered the possibility that the motorcycle and the

Occupant of the mysterious four-wheel drive had met at L martiner to complete a drug deal or other illegal Handover both Silvan and the AL hilles might have unexpectedly Disturbed the transaction and been killed as a result this theory was quickly ruled out as the Sleepy remote town of sherlene

Was a highly unlikely place for a serious drug deal in France there were ongoing tensions between the Muslim Christian and Jewish communities which led to speculation that the murders were an islamophobic hate crime some theorize that a local racist experienced with Firearms might have simply spotted the alhilly family holidaying in Lake Anese

And singled them out due to their middle eastern background but if this was the case it didn’t fit the typical bill for this type of attack if the gunman was motivated by race or religion investigators expected that they would have taken credit for the shootings in some capacity whatever the truth prosecutor

Mayu concluded to GQ magazine that the target quote was one the other or neither months passed with over 40 officers dedicated to the case despite the thorough investigation all police had were unsubstantiated theories the public remained gripped with all the wild stories about spies assassinations and foreign Secrets

Becoming the perfect fter for Tabloid Headlines by April 2013 7 months had passed with no breakthroughs in the case French investigators remained convinced that the alhilly connection held the key to solving the crime zahed alhilly was reinterviewed he maintained that the Fallout with his brother had been nothing more than a financial

Discrepancy for which he held no significant Grudge he said he loved sad and was heartbroken by the tragedy which he wanted solved as much as anyone but when Zed was summoned to France to act as a witness he flat out refused zahed was vocal about his distrust for the French authorities he

Felt they were using the financial matters between himself and sad to deflect from the truth that the crime had its origins in France if Z traveled across the English Channel he feared the authorities would find a way to plant his DNA at the crime scene zahed told GQ

Magazine to be honest with you if the French authorities told me the sun rises in the East and sets in the west I would think they were lying Zed wasn’t legally obligated to obey the French summons unless they had compelling evidence against him so at the advice of his lawyer he ignored it

Completely this did nothing but add weight to the suspicion against him if zahed had nothing to hide the belief was that he’d do anything to assist with the investigation police obtained Zed’s phone records from 2012 and noticed something out of the ordinary in the 3 weeks leading up to

The ansy shootings numerous phone calls had been made to and received from five different numbers in Romania the calls had stopped abruptly after the murders the numbers couldn’t be immediately traced leading investigators to wonder what reason Zed had to be calling the Balan country Zed flat out denied making the

Calls and had no explanation for them this coupled with his initial denial that there was any conflict between himself and Assad along with his refusal to cooperate with the French investigation brought things to a crescendo on on Monday June 24 2013 9 months after the shootings two British

Detectives visited Zed at his flat and placed him under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder a team of police searched his flat but found nothing to link him to the crime zahed was released on bail the following day which under UK law didn’t require a monetary Bond it simply

Required Z to continue living at his current address and stay away from any other potential Witnesses zahed maintained that he never called anyone in Romania French investigators looked back over their records and realized he was right The Unexplained calls had actually been made by sad himself but months of Investigation

Failed to uncover a single shred of evidence linking Zed alhilly to the murders his bail conditions were lifted with a spokesperson for the British police announcing at this stage there is insufficient evidence to charge him with any criminal offense and no further police action is being taken at this

Time French prosecutor Eric Mayu clarified this does not mean that we’re finished with zed Al hilly nor that he is Innocent by the 1-year anniversary of the shootings more than 3 and a half thousand statements had been taken with lines of inquiry being followed in 23 different countries with the investigation back to

Square 1 in early November 2013 French authorities finally decided to release the suspect sketch of the motorcyclist the forestry workers had seen near L martiner right before the shootings they’d been working hard behind the scenes to identify the distinct dark colored helmet the rider had been wearing in the hopes this could

Lead them to its owner the unusual style of helmet had been produced by a French company called GPA and there were only 8,000 of the dark colored models in circulation detectives attempted to track each and every one of them down they spoke to retailers and motorcycle clubs monitored online sales and

Searched the homes of people who were known to own such helmets but nothing LED them to the mysterious L martiner motorcyclist the decision to release the suspect sketch paid off a local who saw the image thought the motorcyclist bore a strong physical resemblance to 48-year-old Eric duvasu a married father

Of three who lived just a few miles north of the crime scene known as an eccentric Outdoorsman deru had strong knowledge of the woods surrounding the murder scene and was familiar with the local mountain routs police looked into Eric deru and discovered that his was one of 4,000

Mobile phones that had pinged off the nearest phone tower on the day of the murders not only did that put him in the area at the time of the shootings a background check revealed that in the weeks leading up to the crime deru had applied for a firearm permit he’d

Previously received combat training as part of his role as a French military reserve and had recently been fired from his job as a municipal police officer due to alleged misconduct it was also reported that he held racist views on Tuesday February 18 2014 a team of police officers aided by members of

An Elite Tactical Unit raided Eric der wasu’s home as well as a property owned by his in-laws they discovered a collection of approximately 40 weapons most of which were related to the second world war and some which hadn’t been obtained legally they also uncovered similar ammunition to that used in the luga

Pistol outside deras su’s home a yellow Tulin was draped over a large item police lifted it up to reveal an old black and gray motorcycle both the bike and deras su’s helmet were taken away for further examination while officers searched his back garden with a metal detector Eric gasu was taken into police

Custody and questioned for 4 days but he didn’t reveal anything that linked him to the ansy shootings nor was anything discovered in the search to connect him to the crimes Witnesses who had seen the motorcycle near L martiner on the day of the murders were shown der’s motorbike

And concluded it wasn’t the same one he was released without charge 6 months later the clothing sard Al hilly had been wearing at the time he was killed was reexamined in his jacket pocket investigators made an unexpected Discovery there they found the missing passports belonging to sad and Dick

Bal Zed Al hilly accused the police of incompetence telling the BBC it seems that the jacket has been in the lab for a year and a half and no one bothered to search it so what other evidence have they missed it was a Sen echoed by others

With almost 2 years passing and no significant developments in the case some questioned whether the police had blundered the investigation from the get-go when members of the media had first arrived at the crime scene the police Cordon had been temporarily brought down so that camera operators and news reporters could wander

Throughout the parking area and capture their desired footage this led to accusations that vital evidence could have been missed thought compromised furthermore Brett Martin the witness who discovered the shootings wasn’t even interviewed when police arrived at L martiner despite being covered in blood by the time police asked to take

Brett’s clothing as evidence several days had passed and he’d already washed it while Brett wasn’t involved in any way it added weight to criticisms that a thorough job hadn’t been done from the start GQ journalist Shan Flynn remarked you would think that quadruple homicides particularly those involving middleclass professionals on vacation

Would get sorted out fairly quickly that scores of detectives hadn’t managed to do so suggested either epic incompetence or criminal Brilliance the British investigation team started to grow weary of the French investigation which had seemingly gone nowhere the more time that passed the more more convinced they became that sad

And his family had nothing to do with it by focusing unnecessarily on zahed Al hilly alternative lines of inquiry had gone cold for the British investigators all of the theories involving inheritance disputes industrial Espionage state sponsored assassinations and spies were just distractions from the truth that the crime had its origins in France

Earlier in 2014 French detectives Revisited the possibility that Silvan molier was the intended target they compiled a list of anyone acquainted with Silvan or his partner CLA and set up routine interviews with each individual among them was 50-year-old Patrice Manalo an Eugene firefighter who had previously served as a paratrooper

For the French Foreign Legion he was questioned for under an hour but it was clear he had nothing to add police sent him on his way with no further thought 2 months later Patrice took his own life he left behind a letter that included a surprising explanation for

His abrupt suicide he couldn’t handle being considered a suspect for the ansy shootings investigators were stunned they did never considered Patrice to be a person of interest nor was he ever held in custody but now they were left wondering whether Patrice Manalo had killed himself because he was

In fact involved with the crime and was consumed by guilt it seemed so illogical that a hardened soldier who had firstand experience in foreign conflicts would be driven to the brink by something as minor as a cursory police interview unless he had something to hide an examination of patrice’s Life

Revealed he suffered Psych psychological problems from his 20 years in the Foreign Legion he was also proficient with firearms and had local knowledge of the cholene area all of these factors fit the profile for the ansy shooter but they didn’t explain why Patrice waited 2 months after being interviewed by police

To end his life and if he was responsible why had it taken almost 2 years since the crime for the guilt to finally become unbearable Patrice Manalo quickly Rose to the top of the suspect list but an in-depth inquiry failed to find any evidence to link him to the

Crime September 2014 came and went marking a bitter 2-year anniversary of the unsolved Crime in a bid to identify the mysterious motorcyclist seen near the crime scene police continued to crosscheck mobile phone records with motorcycle license data in February 2015 their hard work finally paid off the rider was identified as a 57-year-old man from the city of Leon located roughly 150 km west of

Shalene he explained that he’d been in the Anese region on the day of the shootings by accident he was an enthusiastic paraglider and the particularly nice weather that day had inspired him to ride the hills above Lake anosy to scop the area for potential paragliding spots he recalled having a brief

Encounter with the two forestry workers but said he left the area after they warned him about the restricted Road he hadn’t noticed anything suspicious and hadn’t been following the story of the murders in the media so it never even occurred to him to come forward to clear himself as a

Witness police had no reason to doubt this man’s story he was a reputable businessman with a the wife and children and no criminal record nothing about him fit the profile of the killer nor was there any evidence to link him to the crime he was released without charge

With his name suppressed from the media identifying the motorcyclist after all this time was a significant development but all it did was rule out the possibility that the motorcyclist was involved if anything it was a case of one step forward two steps back back as the years continued to pass with

No breakthroughs a new French prosecutor and Lead British detective were eventually assigned to the case they Revisited the evidence from scratch in the hopes that fresh eyes might uncover new leads the British team officially cleared Zed Al hilly from their list of suspects Zed told the channel 4

Documentary murder in the Alps that the the whole falling out with his brother was quote stupid and silly and it shouldn’t really have happened but you can’t turn the clock back Zed believes the investigation was thwarted from the beginning and that French investigators were blindsided by racism they didn’t want the crime to

Have originated in their country so they saw the Middle Eastern family as the perfect cover up zahed told a GQ Magazine to be honest with you I don’t think there was an investigation I think this was a declaration of war against us I think they hoped these Arabs would be

Terrorists or drug dealers I think we were Mana from heaven for them the former lead investigator for the British team Mark Preston appeared on the same channel 4 documentary to reveal some new information for the first time he said that just before the shootings Silvan moller’s bicycle chain had come loose ballistic evidence

Indicated that Silvan had been shot when he was slightly bent over Preston hypothesized that the killer could have been hiding in some nearby trees and pulled the trigger when Silvan stopped to check his bike chain he stated you don’t need to be a seasoned investigator to realize that the person

Who is shot first last and most is not going to be the witness it is going to be the intended target to me it was very clear the killer wanted molier Dead the French investigation team disputed this as it was scientifically impossible to determine the order in which the victims were

Shot by 2021 Three French investigators continued to work on the case fulltime they trolled through the files starting from scratch to see if anything had been missed a full reconstruction of the crime scene was done complete with Witnesses in February the new lead prosecutor Lynn bour told Swiss

Reporters I think we’re nearly there will succeed thanks to Scientific evidence this is not a Cold Case at all 4 months later the unnamed motorcyclist who had previously been cleared from the investigation was placed under arrest it’s unclear if this was based on the revelation of any new

Evidence the man was questioned in custody but released shortly after with his lawyer stating I hope that those guilty will be found and I hope my client will never be considered a suspect again this man’s position is still the same he did not cross paths with this poor

Family According to some reports he remains a Suspect with nothing to link either the AL hilles or silver van molier to the motive for the crime the prevailing theory for French investigators is that the ansy shootings were most likely a random attack committed by a lone gunman with no ties to the

Victims the unsolved case has peaked the interest of many online sleuths they continue to discuss possible theories including that the victims could have been targeted by one of several serial killers who were active around France and Switzerland investigators have considered this Theory too but ultimately ruled it

Out Zab and Zena Al hilly are now teenagers and have since been given new identities in June 2022 British investigators interviewed Zab one more time to see if she could offer any further Insight almost a decade after the fact according to Lou Parisian newspaper zab’s recollection was now

Clearer after arriving at L Martin Zab and sad got out of the car she remembered seeing svan molier on his bicycle as the rest of her family were about to get out gunshot suddenly rang out zab’s parents ordered her back into the vehicle but as she tried to get back

In she was grabbed from behind she first thought the person who grabbed her was her father until she caught a glimpse of their bare hands and realized they were white Zab struggled but was unable to free herself from their grip all she could remember before losing Consciousness was that the killer was

Wearing long trousers and a leather jacket with the ongoing conjecture many who have worked on the case describe it as one of the most difficult they’ve ever been involved with as prosecutor Eric Mayu remarked to journalist Tom Parry we have tried everything possible but perhaps were in the presence of the perfect Crime