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ALPS MURDERS

Brother of Alps murder victim re-bailed in UK

British police on Tuesday renewed the bail of a man arrested over the murder of his brother and other family members in the French Alps last year.

Published: 30 July 2013 19:16 CEST

Brother of Alps murder victim re-bailed in UK

Zaid al-Hilli and the scene near Annecy where his brother Saad al-Hilli and his wife and mother-in-law were gunned down in September 2012. Photos: AFP

Zaid al-Hilli, 54, who was detained in June on suspicion of conspiracy to murder but then released, has been "re-bailed until October 23 pending further enquiries", police said.

He had been due to return to a police station to answer bail on Wednesday. There was no immediate explanation from the force as to why the renewal had taken place a day earlier than expected.

His brother Saad, Saad's wife Iqbal and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf were killed in the family's BMW estate car in a car park at a beauty spot near Lake Annecy on September 5.

French cyclist Sylvain Mollier was also gunned down, although investigators believe he was not a target and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The al-Hillis' two young daughters survived the shooting. Zainab, then seven, was badly injured while Zeena, then four, huddled behind her dead mother's skirt for hours until police found her.

A judge ruled last week that the two girls, who have spent 10 months in foster care, will now be cared for by two members of their extended family.

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Alps murders: Ex-soldier emerges as chief suspect

French prosecutor Eric Maillaud speaking to reporters shortly after the murders. Photo: AFP

French State Prosecutor Eric Maillaud said ex-legionnaire Patrice Menegaldo is the chief suspect in the ongoing investigation into the shooting of Saad al-Hilli, his wife Iqbal, mother-in-law Suhaila and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier.

Menegaldo killed himself last June after being interviewed as a witness to the crime, but not as a suspect.

Police say his profile matches that of the professional hitman, capable of planning and carrying out the cold blooded killings near Annecy, that they believe was behind the murders.

The victims were shot at point blank range on a road near the village of Chevaline in September 2012. The bodies of the al-Hilli family were found in their car, whilst that of the cyclist Mollier was found nearby.

Al-Hilli’s two young daughters narrowly survived.

Prosecutor Maillaud and a team of detectives have been hunting the killer but the probe has so-far failed to find anyone.

Suspicion fell on al-Hilli’s older brother Zaid, who had fought with Saad over their father’s inheritance, as well as on a mystery biker seen neat the scene at the time, but no charges were ever brought.

In an interview for the new book called The Perfect Crime, written by the Daily Mirror newspaper prosecutor Maillaud, revealed that the suspect Menegaldo was acquainted with the French cyclist’s partner.

Both he and Mollier were from the nearby town of Ugine.

The hypothesis at the top of the chain for investigators is a local killing. We have a real suspect. I am referring to the Legionnaire from Ugine,” he said. “Here is a middle-aged man who kills himself and to explain this leaves a letter saying he couldn’t handle being considered a suspect.”

“We are talking about a hardened ex-soldier, someone using a gun, suddenly saying he couldn’t deal with being thought of as a suspect. The investigators are still digging into this man. He had psychological problems.

“Could it, by chance, have been him? Did he regret his actions afterwards and take his own life? Otherwise it is an inexplicable suicide. He had the technical capacity to do what was done that day.”

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