French Alps murders: Timeline of how unsolved gun murder of British family unfolded

Saad al-Hilli killed in September 2012 alongside his wife and mother-in-law
Josh Salisbury12 January 2022

A man has been arrested in connection with the unsolved 2012 of a British family in the French Alps.

Saad al-Hilli, an Iraqi-born engineer, his wife Ikbal, and his mother-in-law Suhaila al-Allaf were gunned down near Lake Annecy in the Haute-Savoie region of France.

Police said Wednesday that a man had been arrested in connection with the killing.

Here is a timeline of one of France’s most notorious unsolved cases:

2012

The three family members, who had been on holiday, were found in their car in a lay-by at the beauty spot by a British ex-RAF pilot, having been shot twice in the head each.

2013

Mr al-Hilli’s brother Zaid is briefly arrested in 2013 in connection with the quadruple murder after police established a joint French-British team to probe the killings.

Prosecutors said at the time they needed to ask him questions about “his schedule, his relationship with his brother and the family inheritance”. However, no charges were brought and he was released without further action in 2014.

2014

A former policeman is arrested after an appeal is issued of a man in a motorcycle helmet. The 48-year-old is ruled out of involvement in the killings but was charged with weapons offences.

The motorcyclist was also later identified and ruled out as a passer-by.

2017

After five years of investigating the case, French prosecutors said in September 2017 that they are “a bit discouraged and worried” at not having managed to achieve a breakthrough.

2021

French authorities take a fresh look at the long-running case, with magistrates accompanied by police forensics attending the scene in October.

They were said to be carrying out work including “examining inconsistencies in the testaments of witnesses” linked to the marathon enquiry.

2022

French police make a new arrest in connection with the killings. Few details are given, but officers say they are questioning the man “in order to do verifications regarding his schedule".

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