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| Alps shootings survivor tells police she saw only one gunman | Alps shootings survivor tells police she saw only one gunman |
| (17 days later) | |
| At about 8am on Friday, almost nine days after she was rushed to Grenoble university hospital in a state which police later described as somewhere "between life and death", Zainab al-Hilli was whisked away from France by British police and taken to a secret location in the UK. Her departure was a rare ray of light in the otherwise unrelentingly bleak story of her family's sudden, brutal and as yet unexplained killing in the French Alps. | At about 8am on Friday, almost nine days after she was rushed to Grenoble university hospital in a state which police later described as somewhere "between life and death", Zainab al-Hilli was whisked away from France by British police and taken to a secret location in the UK. Her departure was a rare ray of light in the otherwise unrelentingly bleak story of her family's sudden, brutal and as yet unexplained killing in the French Alps. |
| Not only was her survival against all the odds, but it also reportedly enabled her to give investigators a key piece of witness testimony from the massacre, in a secluded clearing beside a forest road, of her mother, father and grandmother. According to police sources quoted by AFP and a French television station, the seven-year-old told investigators before leaving hospital that she had seen only one "baddie" during the attack that killed Saad al-Hilli, his wife, Iqbal, her mother, Suhaila al-Allaf, and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier. | Not only was her survival against all the odds, but it also reportedly enabled her to give investigators a key piece of witness testimony from the massacre, in a secluded clearing beside a forest road, of her mother, father and grandmother. According to police sources quoted by AFP and a French television station, the seven-year-old told investigators before leaving hospital that she had seen only one "baddie" during the attack that killed Saad al-Hilli, his wife, Iqbal, her mother, Suhaila al-Allaf, and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier. |
| Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud warned this week that investigators could not depend on any evidence which might be given by Zainab – but her statement, if officially confirmed, is highly significant nonetheless. She is, as he has said, the only living person who actually saw what happened. And the inquiry, now spread across four countries and occupying dozens of officers on both sides of the Channel, has so far raised many more questions than there are, as yet, answers. | Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud warned this week that investigators could not depend on any evidence which might be given by Zainab – but her statement, if officially confirmed, is highly significant nonetheless. She is, as he has said, the only living person who actually saw what happened. And the inquiry, now spread across four countries and occupying dozens of officers on both sides of the Channel, has so far raised many more questions than there are, as yet, answers. |
| At a press conference in Annecy this week before he headed to Britain for meetings with police, Maillaud said there were three leads but no suspect, and warned that such cases could often take "two years, three years or 10 years" to crack. "It's not like the American TV series [CSI]," he added, with a hint of irritation, "where they solve everything in 45 minutes." | At a press conference in Annecy this week before he headed to Britain for meetings with police, Maillaud said there were three leads but no suspect, and warned that such cases could often take "two years, three years or 10 years" to crack. "It's not like the American TV series [CSI]," he added, with a hint of irritation, "where they solve everything in 45 minutes." |
| It is perhaps testament to the other-worldly horror of what awaited them on the winding Combe d'Ire forest road near Chevaline on Wednesday afternoon last week that both main witnesses who stumbled on the crime scene also used the prism of sensationalised fiction to describe it. "There was no sound. It was like in a film," Philippe Didierjean, a French hiker, told Le Parisien. "One of those TV series where everything starts with a murder. Except this time we were the actors and we couldn't change channels with a remote control." | It is perhaps testament to the other-worldly horror of what awaited them on the winding Combe d'Ire forest road near Chevaline on Wednesday afternoon last week that both main witnesses who stumbled on the crime scene also used the prism of sensationalised fiction to describe it. "There was no sound. It was like in a film," Philippe Didierjean, a French hiker, told Le Parisien. "One of those TV series where everything starts with a murder. Except this time we were the actors and we couldn't change channels with a remote control." |
| Before him, inside their maroon BMW with the engine still revving, had lain the bodies of Saad al-Hilli, a 50-year-old British-Iraqi engineer, his wife, a 47-year-old dentist, and his 74-year-old Swedish-Iraqi mother-in-law. Mollier, a 45-year-old father of three from the nearby village of Ugine, was lying dead on the road. | Before him, inside their maroon BMW with the engine still revving, had lain the bodies of Saad al-Hilli, a 50-year-old British-Iraqi engineer, his wife, a 47-year-old dentist, and his 74-year-old Swedish-Iraqi mother-in-law. Mollier, a 45-year-old father of three from the nearby village of Ugine, was lying dead on the road. |
| Unbeknown at that time to Didierjean and to Brett Martin, an RAF veteran believed to have been the first on the scene, four-year-old Zeena al-Hilli was hiding beneath the skirts of her mother inside the footwell of the car. She would not be discovered by police for another eight hours. The family, from Claygate, Surrey, had been on the fifth day of their camping holiday near Lake Annecy. | Unbeknown at that time to Didierjean and to Brett Martin, an RAF veteran believed to have been the first on the scene, four-year-old Zeena al-Hilli was hiding beneath the skirts of her mother inside the footwell of the car. She would not be discovered by police for another eight hours. The family, from Claygate, Surrey, had been on the fifth day of their camping holiday near Lake Annecy. |
| In the immediate aftermath, locals were shocked and, understandably, concerned for their own safety. "I thought it was a guy who wanted to let rip," said Paul Ducher, a farmer mucking out his cowshed in Chevaline. He and many others feared that one seemingly random shooting spree could quite easily be followed by another. Before long, however, that initial panic ebbed away as indications grew that these were more likely to have been planned killings, the roots of which lay far away from Chevaline. "This goes way beyond us," said Martial, Ducher's neighbour. | In the immediate aftermath, locals were shocked and, understandably, concerned for their own safety. "I thought it was a guy who wanted to let rip," said Paul Ducher, a farmer mucking out his cowshed in Chevaline. He and many others feared that one seemingly random shooting spree could quite easily be followed by another. Before long, however, that initial panic ebbed away as indications grew that these were more likely to have been planned killings, the roots of which lay far away from Chevaline. "This goes way beyond us," said Martial, Ducher's neighbour. |
| Richard Gessner, a businessman who used to live in the village, said the "bizarre" nature of the saga – its international scope, its hint of intrigue – had caused many locals to detach themselves from it. "That's why it hasn't had such a big impact here," he said. "The first day, there was an impact because the locals thought there might be a madman on the loose, but now the indications are that it was a contract killing, a targeting thing, they're not as worried." | Richard Gessner, a businessman who used to live in the village, said the "bizarre" nature of the saga – its international scope, its hint of intrigue – had caused many locals to detach themselves from it. "That's why it hasn't had such a big impact here," he said. "The first day, there was an impact because the locals thought there might be a madman on the loose, but now the indications are that it was a contract killing, a targeting thing, they're not as worried." |
| If it had ever been in any doubt, the international dimension to the case was made clear this week when, as Surrey police carried out a search of the Hillis' mock Tudor home, Maillaud and one of the two French investigating magistrates, Michel Mollin, flew in for a 24-hour visit to "improve co-ordination" and "iron out" any communication issues between the forces. As he arrived, Maillaud said he believed Annecy was merely where the murders happened to have been carried out, and not where the "origin, causes and explications" of the crime lay. They, he said, were in Britain. | If it had ever been in any doubt, the international dimension to the case was made clear this week when, as Surrey police carried out a search of the Hillis' mock Tudor home, Maillaud and one of the two French investigating magistrates, Michel Mollin, flew in for a 24-hour visit to "improve co-ordination" and "iron out" any communication issues between the forces. As he arrived, Maillaud said he believed Annecy was merely where the murders happened to have been carried out, and not where the "origin, causes and explications" of the crime lay. They, he said, were in Britain. |
| Police are clear that two of the three leads they are following would appear at least partly to be rooted in the UK. The first – an alleged family feud between Saad and his elder brother, Zaid, over their father's inheritance money – has been the subject of much speculation. Zaid, who also lives in Surrey, has been repeatedly questioned by police as a witness. He vehemently denies any involvement in his brother's death. | Police are clear that two of the three leads they are following would appear at least partly to be rooted in the UK. The first – an alleged family feud between Saad and his elder brother, Zaid, over their father's inheritance money – has been the subject of much speculation. Zaid, who also lives in Surrey, has been repeatedly questioned by police as a witness. He vehemently denies any involvement in his brother's death. |
| The second area of investigation is Hilli's work as an engineer in Britain. He was employed at a satellite technology company in Surrey and had his own business, SH Tech, specialising in technical design for the aircraft industry. | The second area of investigation is Hilli's work as an engineer in Britain. He was employed at a satellite technology company in Surrey and had his own business, SH Tech, specialising in technical design for the aircraft industry. |
| The third lead – regarded as the most difficult but potentially the most fruitful – takes the focus away from Surrey and towards Iraq, where Hilli was born and grew up. He came to Britain in the 1970s, while Saddam Hussein was building a power base before becoming president in 1979, and studied in London. He is known to have kept ties to his home country and is reported to have returned there two years ago in an attempt to recover a house and a business. | The third lead – regarded as the most difficult but potentially the most fruitful – takes the focus away from Surrey and towards Iraq, where Hilli was born and grew up. He came to Britain in the 1970s, while Saddam Hussein was building a power base before becoming president in 1979, and studied in London. He is known to have kept ties to his home country and is reported to have returned there two years ago in an attempt to recover a house and a business. |
| French police have enlisted the help of international specialists from the national detective branch to help them pursue this line of inquiry. But Maillaud said they feared having great difficulty obtaining reliable information from Iraq. | French police have enlisted the help of international specialists from the national detective branch to help them pursue this line of inquiry. But Maillaud said they feared having great difficulty obtaining reliable information from Iraq. |
| The other main source of speculation – a son of Suhaila al-Allaf's in Sweden who is reported to have experienced mental health problems and violent outbursts – was dismissed by Maillaud as of little significance. | The other main source of speculation – a son of Suhaila al-Allaf's in Sweden who is reported to have experienced mental health problems and violent outbursts – was dismissed by Maillaud as of little significance. |
| So where does this leave the investigation? A police source said Maillaud was not exaggerating when he warned that cracking this most perplexing of cases could take years. This week, police in the area around Chevaline have been working through witness statements, preparing to requestion, retrace and re-examine. They were reported on Friday to be hoping to track down a dark Mitsubishi 4x4 apparently seen in the area on the day of the attack. Meanwhile, the Hillis' BMW is being studied by forensic experts at Rosny-sous-Bois near Paris for any evidence that may not yet have been revealed. But the next step forward could well have come from a little girl, recently orphaned, whose biggest worry 10 days ago was starting back at school this week and on whose delicate shoulders now lies the burden of a vast and mysterious police inquiry. | So where does this leave the investigation? A police source said Maillaud was not exaggerating when he warned that cracking this most perplexing of cases could take years. This week, police in the area around Chevaline have been working through witness statements, preparing to requestion, retrace and re-examine. They were reported on Friday to be hoping to track down a dark Mitsubishi 4x4 apparently seen in the area on the day of the attack. Meanwhile, the Hillis' BMW is being studied by forensic experts at Rosny-sous-Bois near Paris for any evidence that may not yet have been revealed. But the next step forward could well have come from a little girl, recently orphaned, whose biggest worry 10 days ago was starting back at school this week and on whose delicate shoulders now lies the burden of a vast and mysterious police inquiry. |
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