Investigators have ordered new DNA tests as part of ongoing ‘cold case’ research into the murders of four people in the French Alps in 2012.
The investigating judges from the ‘cold case’ unit in Nanterre ordered the new tests into killings.
On September 5, 2012, four people - three members of the same British-Iraqi family in one car, plus a French cyclist - were found shot dead in Chevaline (Haute-Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) in their BMW car. They were 50-year-old Saad al-Hilli, his 47-year-old wife Iqbal, and his 74-year-old mother-in-law.
The cyclist was local man Sylvain Mollier. His body was discovered nearby. It is not clear how he was connected - if at all - to the family.
The family’s elder daughter, Zainab, aged 7 at the time, was hit with the butt of the gun, and left for dead. She survived, but was seriously injured. Another daughter, who was four at the time, was found hiding under her mother’s legs in the car, but was not injured.
The circumstances and motive of the killings still remain unknown, almost 12 years later.
Cigarette butts, clothes, and fragments of the butt of the weapon used - a Luger semi-automatic pistol - were among the remnants found at the scene. All are now being re-examined for clues to the identity of the shooter, and their motive.
More research into the weapon used have, in particular, suggested that new leads may yet be found. The gun was produced in the mid-1930s, and used by the Swiss army. As there were just 900 of these pistols made, investigators hope this could help narrow their search even further.
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In 2023, a judge told investigators to be particularly vigilant about watching out for the weapon, or any classified adverts for any gun that appears similar.
The family has said that the new research is welcome.
“Even if he is resigned [to the long-running situation], these new advances are a source of hope for our client,” said William Bourdon, a Paris lawyer representing Zaïd al-Hilli, Mr Saad's brother (who had previously been considered a suspect), to FranceInfo.
