Vier lijken aangetroffen bij Meer van Annecy #3

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Named: Gunman who tried to kill three members of his own family is new suspect in French Alps murder mystery

The latest suspect be investigated for the killing of the British businessman Saad al-Hilli and his family has been named as 53-year-old Belgian Michel Hecht - a man jailed in 2008 for trying to kill his own family.
Named and pictured by Belgian news site La Meuse, Hecht is being questioned by police in connection to the 2012 massacre in the French Alps after being identified by a French private detective.
Hecht was jailed in 2008, was convicted of shooting at his brother Yves, his sister-in-law Isabelle Mathieu, 33, and his nephew Evan, 11 after he fired at them through the wooden walls of their chalet in Florenville, near Arlon in Belgium in 2005.

Suspect: Michel Hecht, 53, has been named as the latest suspect in the killing of British businessman Saad al-Hilli and his family
He was also a potential suspect in the killings of British cyclists Lorraine Glasby, 28, and Paul Bellion, 29, who were found shot dead in a maize field in Brittany in 1986.
Retired police captain turned private detective Pascale Huche said the close range shooting of Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal and mother-in-law Suhaila in their car bears remarkable similarities to a murder he investigated 30 years ago.
Hecht was never charged and the case collapsed due to lack of evidence.
Hecht was released on remand ten months after he was convicted of shooting his family.

BRITISH CYCLISTS KILLED 30 YEARS AGO
British cyclists Lorraine Glasby, 28, and Paul Bellion, 29, were found dead in a maize field in Brittany in 1986.
The case was never solved, but was worked on by now former police detective Pascal Huche.
He says the case bears 'remarkable similarities' to the shooting of the al-Hilli family and French cyclist Sylvian Mollier.

Both murders were committed in isolated locations and at close range.
'There are similarities between these killings. Weapons were used at close range and both took place in isolated areas,' he told the newspaper.
According to Huche, Hecht has been questioned over 'several investigations'.
Speaking to The Sun, Lorraine Glasby's mother Rosemary said, 'The moment I heard about the family (al-Hillis) I thought the cases might be linked. There are so many similarities.
The former captain. who worked on the murders in Brittany, tipped off French police about his suspicions.
Hecht is now living in Vosges, France, two hours from Annency, and cannot return to Belgium under the terms of his police, according to a report in The Sun.

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Op zondag 3 januari 2016 22:02 schreef Ryan3 het volgende:
Nieuwe verdachte: een 53-jarige Belg genaamd Michel Hecht, die in 1986 verdachte is geweest bij de raadselachtige moord op twee jonge Britse toeristen in Bretagne en bij de moordpoging op zijn eigen broer, schoonzuster en neefje in 2008 aldus de Daily mail: http://www.dailymail.co.u(...)-murder-mystery.html

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Suspect: Michel Hecht, 53, has been named as the latest suspect in the killing of British businessman Saad al-Hilli and his family

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Op maandag 4 januari 2016 10:59 schreef TargaFlorio het volgende:

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Maar voorlopig dus enige link dat de zaken op elkaar lijken.

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Two unidentified traces of DNA are found in the car belonging to British al-Hilli family murdered in French Alps, sparking new hope of solving three-year mystery

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Op maandag 4 januari 2016 10:59 schreef TargaFlorio het volgende:

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Maar voorlopig dus enige link dat de zaken op elkaar lijken.

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Op maandag 4 januari 2016 11:33 schreef Montagui het volgende:

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Yup. Maar wie weet.

Ook een 'long shot' zijn de onlangs gevonden (2) sporen 'onbekend' DNA.

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http://www.dailymail.co.u(...)ee-year-mystery.html

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In Frankrijk is een verdachte aangehouden in de spraakmakende moordzaak waarbij in 2012 drie leden van een Britse familie en een Franse fietser werden doodgeschoten. De man is in hechtenis geplaatst en wordt uitgebreid verhoord. Hij was al eens eerder aangehouden, maar in zijn verhaal zaten volgens bronnen van justitie in Annecy gaten, melden Britse media. Ook wordt zijn alibi gecheckt.
Tien jaar geleden werden in het gehucht Chevaline, ten zuiden van het Meer van Annecy, een 50-jarige Brit van Iraakse komaf, zijn vrouw en haar moeder doodgeschoten in hun auto. Hun twee dochters overleefden het bloedbad, dat sterk leek op een professionele afrekening. Een 45-jarige fietser die waarschijnlijk toevallig getuige was werd ook vermoord.

De ’Alpenmoordzaak’ leek op de plank te belanden, maar de aanklager in Annecy zei onlangs dat het onderzoek nog altijd gaande is. Vorig jaar sprak de politie over een mogelijk verband met een bende huurmoordenaars in Parijs. In het huis van een van de bendeleden, een oud-politieman, werden kogels gevonden van hetzelfde kaliber als die in Annecy waren gebruikt. Dat zou erop kunnen wijzen dat de fietser het eigenlijke doelwit was, maar de toedracht van de viervoudige moord is nog altijd in nevelen gehuld.

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In het huis van een van de bendeleden, een oud-politieman, werden kogels gevonden van hetzelfde kaliber als die in Annecy waren gebruikt. Dat zou erop kunnen wijzen dat de fietser het eigenlijke doelwit was

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Op donderdag 13 januari 2022 12:23 schreef maily het volgende:
Update:
Man opgepakt voor Franse Alpenmoorden in 2012
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Op donderdag 13 januari 2022 12:45 schreef Twiitch het volgende:

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Deze gedachtengang kan ik niet helemaal volgen.

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Op donderdag 13 januari 2022 13:07 schreef Bargehassus het volgende:

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Ik ook niet.
Politie heeft een hekel aan fietsers?

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Op donderdag 13 januari 2022 13:13 schreef maily het volgende:

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Een van de bendeleden was een oud-politieman.

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Op donderdag 13 januari 2022 16:49 schreef Twiitch het volgende:

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Ja, ik kan lezen. Maar waarom geeft dat aanleiding om te denken dat de fietser het doelwit was?
Ken hele voorgeschiedenis van deze zaak overigens niet dus wellicht mis ik wat info.

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Op donderdag 13 januari 2022 12:45 schreef Twiitch het volgende:

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Deze gedachtengang kan ik niet helemaal volgen.

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Op donderdag 13 januari 2022 16:49 schreef Twiitch het volgende:

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Ja, ik kan lezen. Maar waarom geeft dat aanleiding om te denken dat de fietser het doelwit was?
Ken hele voorgeschiedenis van deze zaak overigens niet dus wellicht mis ik wat info.

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Inside chilling Alps massacre of Brit family - the 5 unsolved clues key to the mystery
The al-Hilli family was on a caravan holiday at their favourite spot on Lake Annecy in the French Alps - but some days after they arrived an unknown killer shot dead dad Saad and mum Iqbal before pistol-whipping, shooting and leaving seven-year-old daughter to die

Ten years after the shocking of murder of a British family in the French Alps, detectives are continuing to interrogate a man about the unsolved 2012 killings.

In another twist in the long-running unsolved case which has intrigued people around the world, the arrest was apparently prompted by a reconstruction of the terrible events.

Line Bonnet-Mathis, the newly appointed prosecutor in Annecy, where the murders took place, wanted to create a fresh timeline, checking witness statements for inconsistencies.

Now a 57-year-old married man from Lyon, who was reportedly in the area of the crime scene on the day Saad al-Hilli, his wife Iqbal, and mother-in-law Suhaila were shot dead at point-blank range, is being detained by investigators.

He was arrested at his home early on Wednesday morning in an operation that has seemingly been months in planning.

French media reported that the police previously interviewed the man as a witness in 2015.

According to information released then, he was travelling on his motorbike down the narrow road leading up to the remote clearing where the al-Hillis and a French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, were assassinated.

On the day in question, it was revealed then, he had gone paragliding, a popular pastime in the mountains above Chevaline, the nearest village to the appalling attack.

Yet despite the worldwide publicity surrounding the extraordinary case, and near-constant news coverage in France, the man told detectives he had been unaware of what happened at the remote car park at the end of the Combe d’Ire track.

As police hold the unnamed suspect for a second day of questioning, those affected by one of the most bizarre mass murders of recent decades are hoping this might finally be the breakthrough they need.

The murders
Saad and Iqbal al-Hilli left Claygate, Surrey, in early September 2012 with their daughters Zainab and Zeena, and her mother Suhaila.

They drove by car, towing Saad’s beloved caravan, to a campsite on Lake Annecy for a family holiday. France had always been their favourite destination.

On the day of their killing, Saad had asked the campsite owner for recommendations.

They drove up a track beyond the village of Chevaline in the maroon estate car, and got out at a layby called Le Martinet to inspect a sign showing hiking trails.

At this point, exactly what happened remains clouded in mystery.

Saad, Iqbal and Suhaila were shot dead in the car, which still had its engine running, with its wheels turning in an earth bank, suggesting Saad had reversed at speed to get away.

Zainab, seven, who was outside the vehicle, was shot, pistol-whipped and left for dead by the assassin. Her little sister Zeena, only four at the time, cowered unseen under her mum's skirt in the back seat, terrified but physically unharmed.

Also at the scene was a French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, who had been shot dead too. His bullet-riddled body was discovered on the ground, a few metres from the al-Hillis vehicle, which had its windows splintered by holes from shots fired by the Luger pistol the assassin had used.

The first on the scene was a British cyclist, former RAF pilot Brett Martin, who has a holiday home near the lake, who remembers being overtaken by another pedaller, presumably Mollier, on his way up the winding hill.

At first thinking there had been a terrible accident, Brett approached the vehicle, and only then realised what had happened. He switched off the engine and - unable to get a signal on his mobile phone - went back down the hill to get help and raise the alarm.

The brothers
After the killings, Eric Maillaud, the French state prosecutor in Annecy at the time, said he was sure the answer to the crimes lay in England.

During a visit to the al-Hillis’ home in England, he announced that this would be where the outwardly inexplicable assassination would be resolved.

Mr Maillaud was particularly convinced that a long-running feud between Saad and his elder brother Zaid explained what looked like a deliberate, professional hit.

The brothers had argued over the inheritance of the house in Claygate, and reportedly over their father's will.

Zaid admitted that there had been a fierce fight inside the house, which Saad lived in permanently, and that they had not been on speaking terms at the time of the murders.

Zaid was arrested and questioned in Guildford, but later released without charge.

Now retired and living near Bournemouth, he has always vehemently protested his innocence, and believes he was a scapegoat for inept French police.

The cyclist
Sylvain Mollier, from the nearby small town of Ugine, was a keen cyclist who would often be out on lengthy, mountainous routes on his expensive bike.

He was well-liked locally, and had recently started a relationship after a divorce from the mother of his first two children.

At the time of the killings, Mollier had stopped working at a nuclear metals processing factory in Ugine, which employs many of the town’s citizens.

Investigators said he was an innocent victim, in the wrong place at the wrong time, and yet Mollier was shot with seven bullets, the most of any of the four dead victims. It is also believed that he was shot first, although some dispute this.

Following the murders, it emerged that his new partner, Claire Schutz, had recently given birth to their first child, and had inherited her parents multi-million pharmacy business.

Although there has been speculation in France that this could be a potential motive for an assassination, there has never been any concrete evidence backing this up.

Mollier’s family and the Schutz family have maintained their silence since the killings.

The inquiry
From the outset, the French investigation has faced criticism.

Little Zeena al-Hilli was only found the morning after the murders by specialist forensic officers sent down from Paris, still beneath her dead mother's skirt.

There were also claims that the crime scene was trampled over, and disturbed, leading to clues potentially being missed - a claim disputed by French authorities.

The police cordon was lifted just a few days after the murders for journalists and TV news crews, potentially too early.

Meanwhile, the French police squandered valuable time trying to trace the al-Hillis’ passports, with investigators querying whether the assassin had taken them as proof of completing his hired job.

The identity documents were discovered in the victims’ clothes a long time afterwards.

And Eric Maillaud, the figurehead at the centre of the inquiry for the first four years, was criticised for initially dismissing theories that the al-Hillis might have been the collateral victims.

Previous suspects
As well as the man currently under arrest, and Zaid al-Hilli, others have been quizzed as potential suspects.

Former foreign legionnaire Patrice Menegaldo, who knew Claire Schutz, committed suicide after he was questioned as a witness, without being placed under arrest.

Ex-police officer Eric Devouassoux was quizzed after a huge stash of guns was found at his property in the area, but he was later cleared of any involvement.

Nordahl Lelandais, potentially France's worst-ever serial killer, has also been interviewed, but has been ruled out.

An Iraqi prisoner, identified only as Mr S, was also quizzed, having claimed to have been paid to kill the al-Hillis, but this too was excluded.

The clues
- Eye witnesses at the campsite reported that Saad al-Hilli had a mysterious, heated conversation the night before he was killed with a man said to be from the Balkans, but this person has never been identified.

- Residents of Chevaline spoke of a car coming down the hill at high speed, as well as a motorcycle, however there was no CCTV in the rural area, making it extremely difficult for detectives to get a positive identification.

- Two forestry workers spotted a motorcyclist above the parking area, and told him to leave as motorised vehicles were not permitted there. Brett Martin said this same motorcyclist passed him as he pedalled uphill. From the information provided by the two workers, police were able to put together an efit image, showing a man with a distinctive helmet.

- The assassin used an antique Luger P06 pistol, a type previously used by the Swiss military. Part of its handle fell off and was found at the scene. Tracing the gun was an almost impossible task as thousands of former soldiers in nearby Switzerland would be able to keep theirs following national service. Ballistic examinations have also been fraught with unusual challenges.

- Curiously, Saad al-Hilli travelled on holiday to France with his laptop and a thick bundle of important documents, including papers relating to his father’s Swiss bank account in Geneva, just 40 mins away.

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Op donderdag 13 januari 2022 13:07 schreef Bargehassus het volgende:

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Ik ook niet.
Politie heeft een hekel aan fietsers?

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Op zaterdag 15 januari 2022 22:30 schreef NightDancert het volgende:

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Wie niet?