Zaid al-Hilli has returned to the French Alps for the first time since his brother Saad and three others were murdered there, as a pistol recovered from Lake Annecy offers a possible new lead in the 14-year-old Chevaline massacre.
Mr al-Hilli, who was arrested and questioned over the killings before being told he would face no further action, has long maintained that French investigators made him a scapegoat. He made the sombre journey to the forest road near Chevaline where his brother, sister-in-law and mother-in-law were shot dead.
Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were found beside their BMW on September 5, 2012. French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, was also killed in the attack, while the al-Hillis’ two young daughters survived.
The gunman has never been identified and the motive remains unknown. Investigators believe the victims were shot with an antique Luger pistol, fragments of which were found at the scene.
The latest development came after two British tourists discovered a semi-automatic pistol on the bed of Lake Annecy on August 20. The weapon was found a few dozen metres from the shore and handed to French gendarmes the following day.
It is understood to be a Luger, the same type of weapon believed to have been used in the Chevaline killings. Ballistics experts at the French National Institute of Criminal Forensics are examining it, although investigators have cautioned that the discovery may be no more than a coincidence.
French prosecutors have since indicated that initial checks suggest the pistol is unlikely to be the murder weapon. A formal examination is nevertheless being ordered to eliminate any possible link with the killings.
The discovery follows renewed efforts by the cold-case unit in Nanterre, which took over the investigation in 2022. The unit had asked for any Luger found in France to be reported so it could be compared with evidence recovered from the crime scene.
Zaid al-Hilli says he was made a scapegoat
Mr al-Hilli was arrested in Britain in 2013 on suspicion of arranging the murder of his brother, amid claims of a dispute over their late father’s inheritance. He was later released and told there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
He has repeatedly denied any involvement and accused investigators of pursuing a family theory because it was convenient. “I love my brother, I love his family, I love my nieces, I would never harm them,” he said after the case against him was dropped.
He has also criticised the handling of the crime scene and claimed that police wasted valuable time concentrating on his family instead of identifying the killer. French authorities have rejected neither the continuing mystery nor the need for further investigation, but no one has been charged with the massacre.
The two surviving daughters, who were aged four and seven at the time, remain central witnesses to the attack. French prosecutors are now considering bringing them back to the scene as the inquiry continues.
