07/09/2012

Investigation Into Alps Shootings Finds Possible Motive

French prosecutors investigating the death of four people in the Alps have said a possible family dispute over money is one of their lines of inquiry.

The UK family have been named as 50-year-old Saad al-Hilli from Surrey, his wife and mother-in-law. They were shot dead near Lake Annecy on Wednesday.

The fourth victim was a French cyclist, thought to have been a witness, who was found shot dead nearby.

It is alleged there was a dispute between Mr al-Hilli and his brother over inheritance from their parents, the BBC have reported.

Prosecutor Eric Maillaud told AFP news agency: "It seems that there was a dispute between the two brothers about money. This seems to be credible information coming from the British police.

"The brother will have to be questioned at length. Every lead will be meticulously followed."

Police hope to question Mr al-Hilli's four-year-old daughter, who spent about eight hours hiding in the car with the bodies of her parents before being discovered by officers at midnight on Wednesday.

Another daughter, aged seven, was in a medically-induced coma in Grenoble University Hospital after being shot once and suffering head injuries.

Both girls are under police protection in hospital.

(H)


Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

04 March 2013
Retired Police Inspector And Girlfriend Found Shot Dead
The bodies of a retired police inspector and his girlfriend have been found with gunshot wounds in Devizes. Bill Dowling, a retired police inspector with 30 years' service, and the woman who is yet to be named, where found at Moonrakers estate at around 11:00am on Saturday.
16 May 2007
Man shot dead by police in London
Police officers in London have shot dead a man during an operation in west London, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed. The 52-year-old man, who has not yet been formally identified, was fatally wounded during the incident in Hangar Green in Ealing on Tuesday night.
10 September 2012
Bomb Squad Investigate House Of French Alps Shootings
The Surrey home of the family shot and killed in the French Alps last week has been examined by Army bomb disposal experts. In an operation that saw neighbours being evacuated. It is understood that items in a garden shed were examined but police have since said that they were not "hazardous".
26 June 2003
Military Police killed after weapons searches sparked protests
The six military police killed on Tuesday in Iraq had been involved in house-to-house searches for illegally held weapons in the town where they were stationed, amid protests by the local Muslim communities about some of the measures employed by British forces.
06 September 2013
Brother No Longer Main Suspect In Killing Of British Family In French Alps
At an update meeting on the case of the deaths of three Britons and a cyclist in the French Alps, police have said their main line of enquiry remains a dispute over family inheritance. Saad al-Hilli was shot dead along with his wife, Iqbal, her mother Suhaila al-Allaf and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier on 05 September 2012.