Police still examining French Alps shooting

ANNECY, France

Officers conduct investigations outside a house believed to be al-Hilli’s in England. AFP photo

French police still struggling to make sense of a quadruple murder at an Alpine beauty spot said yesterday they were re-examining the scene and exploring other possibilities, including that of a lone deranged killer.

“Only work based on complete information can help us to see things clearly,” police officer Benoit Vinneman told Agence France-Presse.

All four victims, including three members of a British-Iraqi family, were killed by two gunshots to the head, fuelling earlier suspicions that the murders could have been a professional hit. Saad al-Hilli, his wife Iqbal, and an elderly relative died; the couple’s daughters Zainab, aged seven, and Zeena, aged four, survived the attack. Zeena, who has been unable to give police any information on the killer or killers, was expected to return home to Britain. Her sister was still in hospital in Grenoble.

Annecy’s state prosecutor Eric Maillaud told the FRANCE 24 website that “the explanation for these murders presumably lies in Britain.” French detectives working in Britain are following up on reports in the media that Saad al-Hilli, 50, had been involved in a feud with his older brother Zaid, 53, over their father’s inheritance. Zaid was questioned by police on Sept. 8, and will again be quizzed by officers. Zaid presented himself to police in Britain following the murder, denying media reports that the brothers were involved in a financial dispute.

Investigators were also trying to nail down the exact movements of the al-Hilli family before the attack.