5 found shot in French Alps

www.thedailybeast.com...

Interesting article from Nov 2012 (not sure if any of this has been mentioned yet).

According to the report, Mollier the cyclist was the first person to catch the assassin’s wrath. Investigators had initially proceeded on the theory that the cyclist, who was on paternity leave from Crezus, a company that supplies equipment to nuclear-power plants, had unwittingly come upon a murder in progress. Mollier was a plant supervisor for the division that does research and development into zirconium products with allegedly distant ties to Iran.

Mollier had been shot, it was originally thought, only because he was a witness to the carnage. But after meticulous forensic analyses of the blood splatters on the bodies and especially the soles of the victims’ feet, investigators now know with certainty that al-Hilli and his daughter Zainab were outside the family car when Mollier was shot. The cyclist’s blood was on al-Hilli’s pant leg and on the soles of his daughter’s feet, even though al-Hilli was shot through the window as he sat in the driver seat.

So the family were outside the car. The cyclist was apparently shot first.

But still, it doesn't explain who the INTENDED victims were? Maybe the killer(s) was talking to the family, ready to kill them, but the cyclist came past and would have been witness to something and thus needed eliminating before the guns were turned on the family.

Or maybe the intended victim was the cyclist and the family were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it doesn't really explain why the cyclists blood would be on the girl.

But the article also mentions this (regarding the British Iraqi - the father - Saad al-Hilli):

Since the bodies were discovered, investigators have focused their attention on Saad al-Hilli, whose curious past and actions before he was killed suggested a man on the run. Rumors of secret Swiss bank accounts and hidden property, coupled with the discovery of a Taser gun and the fact that he changed the locks on his Surrey home before packing up the family camper and heading to France fed conspiracy theories that he was the assassin’s target. U.K. tabloids reported that he was on a British special-forces watch list prior to the Iraq war in 2003, though confirmation of that is elusive. Even the discovery of a phone message on al-Hilli’s phone from a worried teacher at the daughters’ school, wondering why they hadn’t turned up for the first day of class, seemed to underscore that the trip to France was spontaneous, and therefore suspicious. Al-Hilli, born in Iraq, spent a lot of time ranting in anti-Semitic online chatrooms, according to family friends, which helped fuel the fire.

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Just as suspicious and it doesn't make it any clearer who the intended victim is, despite the cyclist being shot first - Saad apparently didn't inform the school that they were leaving, he changed the locks and wasn't their mention of him appearing anxious to a neighbour before leaving? Where did I read that?

Anyway, coming back to the cyclist and the shooting:

The first shots at Mollier didn’t kill him, based on his autopsy report and his trail of blood on the ground. Instead, investigators theorize that the assassin disabled the cyclist—perhaps intentionally keeping him alive—and then turned fire to the al-Hillis. According to the report, Saad al-Hilli then scrambled back into the family car, locked the doors and frantically threw the vehicle into reverse, backing into a muddy bank where the rear axel got stuck. Little Zainab never made it back into the car. The assassin then pistol-whipped and shot her before turning to al-Hilli, his wife, and mother-in-law, shooting them while they were in the car, and finishing each off with two shots to the forehead. Then, according to the investigators’ theory, the assassin went back to Mollier and fired the final two fatal shots into the cyclist’s cranium. They believe the assassin then searched the body and moved it closer to the car before escaping.

So a professional killing, two shots each to the family, with the exception of the little girl, who was shot in the shoulder. And then mention of the cyclist being searched.

What for?

reply to post by mr-lizard


Thanks for the update.

It all seems very complicated yet deliberate and professional.

I am beginning to think that we will never know the exact truth of what occurred and why.
I suspect this event will be one of those that enter into conspiracy folklore and is frequently discussed with numerous theories etc.

That's not to say that certain organisations etc don't already know the exact details and motivations.

Media is reporting an arrest has been made.

British police said Monday they had arrested a 54-year-old man in connection with the murders of three members of an Iraqi-British family and a French cyclist in a secluded car park in the French Alps.

The man was detained in a “pre-planned arrest” in Surrey, outside London, where the al-Hilli family lived, a police statement said.

france24.com


Also a very brief cnn.com mention.

Hopefully more information will be available soon.

reply to post by OneisOne


Apparently it is the brother of one of the deceased who has been arrested.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Originally posted by Freeborn
reply to post by OneisOne

 

Apparently it is the brother of one of the deceased who has been arrested.

www.bbc.co.uk...

thank you for following up on this. i had been wondering if they would ever get anywhere with this. hopefully the responsible parties will be brought to justice it is even more tragic if it does turn out to be a family member.

reply to post by smurfzilla


The brother has been released on bail pending 'further inquiries'.

www.bbc.co.uk...

It looks like the police are still some way off solving this mystery.

just past the one year mark...
Questions remain unanswered (link)

Old thread, I know, but there is a new angle to the case.

The Telegraph

Alps murder wife had a 'secret' ex-husband who died on the same day

A British woman who was shot dead alongside her family in the French Alps had a secret American ex-husband, who died on the same day as her, it has emerged. Iqbal Al-Hilli died along with her husband, Saad, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf when a gunman opened fire on their car during a family holiday in September 2012. A passing French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, also died, but the couple’s two daughters, aged four and seven, both survived the attack. French police have been baffled by the murders and have explored a wide range of possible motives. But it has now emerged that Mrs Al-Hilli had previously been married to an American oil worker called Jim Thompson, who lived in the town of Natchez in Mississippi. In an extraordinary and sinister twist, Mr Thompson died on the very same day that the Al-Hilli family were gunned down.

Sounds a bit fishy, right? Why take 2 years to get to this information out? Is it because it came to light only in court or because the case is not as hot anymore and perpetrators have gotten their money and cover their tracks?

Again, sorry to revive this old thread, but the whole past history is here.

this recent ebola jostled my memory about this case and i had to come Recheck out al halil's profession.. lucky us it has nothing to do with ebola..

i would like to bring a theory to the table..

the cyclist was shot first... al halil and his daughter at least were out of the car when this took place.

cyclist - sells stuff for nuclear power plants..

al halil - nuclear scientist among many other nifty watch list skills.


OK soooo we got al halil and his fam after a long drive finally meet up with al halil's intended rendezvous with cyclist? Mossad/Whoever intervene and clean the whole place up?

the connection between the cyclist and al halil with nuclear sciences is just too juicy to ignore.. specially with the iran trips and all the other juiciness...

heres my other question.. wheres the air force fellow fall into all this?? was the female cyclist retired air force? or was there another person? possible al halil security? would explain the no brass policing if they encountered resistance maybe?

man this thread needs some attention lol. shoulda titled the thread "ZOMG WORLD ENDS for 5 people in the alps" not enough doomporn to get every one all worked up into a frenzy.

update. www.thesun.co.uk...

Lelandais is suspected of being involved in up to 15 unsolved cases, including one involving the British Al-Hilli family, who were killed in the Alps in 2012.