06/09/2013

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.

The al-Hilli's two daughters where with the family at the time of the shooting. One daughter was found injured a short distance from the family vehicle, while the youngest daughter was only found hours after the incident still in the car, hiding in the rear footwell next to the bodies of her mother and grandmother.

While police believe the deaths are related to a dispute over family inheritance, they are no longer focusing on Mr al-Hilli's brother as the main suspect.

Mr al-Hilli's brother Zaid, who is from Chessington, Surrey, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and is due to answer police bail next month.

It is claimed that Zaid doctored documents relating to their fathers will to ensure he would inherit the family estate.

At the joint update by British and French police, it was revealed that Zaid is no longer their number one suspect. That they believe the perpetrator to have been an experience gunman, have largely ruled out the "lone psychopath" theory and are "pretty sure" there is no connection to the French cyclist, who is believed to have been killed when he came upon the scene at the wrong time.

The investigation is ongoing.

(MH/CD)

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