00:00:09
[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
00:00:18
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
00:00:26
and for a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
00:00:35
[Music] website the afternoon of Wednesday September 5 2012 was a pleasant one in
00:00:46
shalene a small wooded Community located in the French Alps region of ort Savo sharing nearby borders with
00:00:55
Switzerland and Italy the area is known for its Mountain Landscapes and the medieval towns that dot Lake Anese a
00:01:03
sparkling body of water considered to be the cleanest Lake in Europe in the warmer months visitors
00:01:09
from all over flock to the region to bask in the Tranquil surroundings swim in the clear waters and enjoy everything
00:01:16
that lake annesse has to offer British retiree Brett Martin had a holiday house not far from
00:01:24
sherlene he took advantage of the sunny weather and took off on his mountain bike for a leisurely ride through the
00:01:30
village of roughly 207 residents he passed by the sprinkling of Old Country Homes and pastures before
00:01:38
the only thing on either side of him was Woodland about 10 minutes outside of cholene Brett turned onto Kum Deere a
00:01:47
steep uneven road that wound uphill through dense uninhabited forests and ped rushing
00:01:53
streams Brad had done the trip before he knew that there were no other turnoff until the three km Mark when the public
00:02:01
road gave way to a clearing called the martiner this served as a small secluded parking area and was typically used as a
00:02:09
starting point for visitors to explore the surrounding walking tracks and hiking trails it also signaled the end
00:02:16
of the public road from lur martiner Kum Deere became a restricted route marked with a no
00:02:24
entry sign although hikers commonly used the route the only vehicles with authorization to access it were forestry
00:02:33
workers Brett powered on until L martiner clearing was ins sight by this point it was roughly 3:55 p.m. he looked
00:02:43
ahead and noticed something in the middle of the road a lightweight racing bicycle Brett wondered why its owner
00:02:51
would have left it there but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a young dark-haired girl stumbled out
00:02:57
onto the road she she was covered in blood her head and shoulder clearly injured Brett
00:03:04
watched her sway from side to side before she collapsed face first onto the ground
00:03:14
[Music] [Music] Brett rushed to the girl's Aid her eyes were rolling around as though she was
00:03:40
about to lose Consciousness Brett was a former Royal Air Force pilot and he used his first
00:03:46
aid knowledge to gently move the girl off the road and place her in the recovery
00:03:51
position that's when he noticed the maroon BMW Series 5 station wagon stopped to the left of the parking area
00:03:58
facing the road the same vehicle had passed Brett just a few minutes earlier he'd remembered it
00:04:06
because it had British license plates and it was right hand to drive now its engine was revving as one
00:04:12
of its rear wheels spun in a mound of gravel on the ground in front of the BMW a middle-aged man was lying in a pool of
00:04:22
blood Brett recognized the man as the owner of the discarded bicycle the two had passed one another
00:04:29
to towards the start of Kum Deere Brad had initially tried to keep up with the other cyclist but had given up and
00:04:36
lingered back at his own pace thinking that the cyclist and car must have collided Brett's immediate
00:04:44
thought was that the revving bam W could Lurch forward at any moment and cause further injury to the
00:04:49
psychist he rushed to move the man out of the way only to realize that he hadn't been hit by the car at all he'd
00:04:57
been shot multiple times in the head Brett realized that the BMW's windows were riddled with bullet holes he moved
00:05:06
closer only to see that the interior of the vehicle was covered with blood inside a middle-aged male was
00:05:14
slumped over in the driver's seat in the back seat was a middle-aged woman with an elderly woman beside
00:05:21
her all three had been shot in the head brat smashed the bullet ridden driver side window and reached in to
00:05:30
turn off the ignition he took out his mobile phone to call for help but there was no
00:05:36
reception he faced a dilemma did he leave the wounded girl there or did he attempt to take her with him and risk
00:05:44
worsening her injuries scared that the shooter was still in the area and could Target him
00:05:49
next Brett got back on his bike and rode for help leaving the injured girl by the
00:05:55
side of the road [Music] within minutes Brett Martin encountered a car full of French hikers who were
00:06:05
able to get a mobile signal and summon Emergency Services paramedics rescue personnel and
00:06:12
teams of police sped to the area the wounded girl was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition as doctors
00:06:20
assessed her injuries they realized that she'd received a gunshot wound to the shoulder before being brutally beaten in
00:06:27
the head her orbital bone was was fractured and her skull was cracked resulting in a traumatic brain
00:06:34
injury the girl was put into an induced coma while serons tried desperately to save her
00:06:40
life but there was nothing to be done for the cyclist or those inside the BMW all four were pronounced the dead at
00:06:48
the scene a cursory search of the woods surrounding the crime scene was conducted with a helicopter passing
00:06:57
overhead nothing was found to indicate the shooter was still in the area police at the scene decided it was
00:07:05
best to wait for the specialist forensic team to arrive from Paris before examining the interior of the
00:07:11
vehicle the car windows were so badly cracked by bullet holes that a single movement could cause one to collapse
00:07:18
thus damaging crucial evidence the deceased psychist still had his wallet on him which led to him being
00:07:25
identified as 45-year-old Silvan molier the quiet and reserved father of three lived just 20 km east of shalene in the
00:07:35
small town of uen silvan's partner CLA had recently given birth to a baby boy a dedicated
00:07:44
father Silvan had taken extended paternity Le from his job as a production worker to take care of his
00:07:49
young son and two teenage children from a previous marriage syvan was a keen cyclist who
00:07:56
enjoyed riding the local trails that afternoon he'd wanted to try a new route so he headed up the Kum Deere Road
00:08:04
at the recommendation of cla's Father the British registered BMW was traced back to L Solita Dak a campsite
00:08:14
roughly 14 km north of Kum DEA the occupants of the BMW were identified as 50-year-old sad Al hilly an Iraqi born
00:08:24
British citizen who lived in the English Village of claygate the two women in the the back
00:08:29
seat were his wife 47-year-old Iraqi born ikbal Al hilly and ik bal's 74-year-old mother sua Al alaf the
00:08:39
injured girl was the couple's 7-year-old daughter Zab a caravan registered to sard Al
00:08:47
hilly remained exactly where the family had left it parked alongside their tent the owner of the campsite told the
00:08:54
police that the alhilly family had checked in the previous day of Tuesday September before they'd actually arrived
00:09:01
in the area on Saturday but had stayed at a different campsite for two nights before moving to L Solitaire
00:09:08
dlac the owner recalled nothing unusual about the family's Behavior sad had asked about good
00:09:15
walking trails in the area to which the owner had recommended the general area around Sherene but hadn't signaled out a
00:09:23
specific location other guests told the police that the alhilly seemed like an ordinary
00:09:29
family on vacation the guests who were camping next to them recalled the two little
00:09:34
girls playing happily when the questioning officers heard this they froze two little
00:09:43
girls there had only been one young girl found at the crime scene 7-year-old Zab there was only one child seat inside
00:09:51
the BMW so investigators hadn't even thought to check the vehicle for a second child cursory Searchers of the
00:09:58
area hadn't revealed any sign of another victim this left two possibilities either the second alhilly
00:10:07
daughter had run into the woods to escape the shooter and was still out there somewhere or she'd been
00:10:14
abducted by this point it was nearing midnight authorities had been gathered at the crime scene for close to 8 hours
00:10:22
The Specialist forensic team had just arrived from Paris and one officer finally opened the back door of the BM
00:10:30
W there cing silently underneath ikbal Al Hilly's skirt was her 4-year-old daughter
00:10:38
Zena the young girl was terrified but unharmed for 8 hours she'd been frozen in fear unable to grasp the Carnage that
00:10:47
had taken place around her smiling with relief at finally being found Zena looked up and
00:10:55
said where's Mommy I want my money me at no point during the attack had Zena exited the car so she couldn't tell
00:11:08
the investigators much all she remembered was hearing loud noises before quickly hiding on the
00:11:14
floor investigators hoped her older sister would be more helpful but whether zanab would recover remained to be
00:11:22
seen in the meantime the priority remained on catching the killer if the shooting was a random
00:11:30
attack conducted by a deranged individual a quick arrest was needed to stop them from striking
00:11:37
again the deceased inside the BMW was still in possession of their wallets mobile phones and a digital camera this
00:11:45
ruled out robbery as a motive for the killings but strangely their passports were nowhere to be found either in their
00:11:53
car or at their campsite a forensic search for fingerprints DNA or any any other Clues
00:12:00
came up empty all the police had to go by were the spent bullet casings 21 of which were found at the
00:12:09
scene using the ballistics and limited physical evidence investigators deduced that after arriving at L martiner sard
00:12:17
and 7-year-old zanab likely got out of the car perhaps to examine a map of the area that was posted to the side of the
00:12:24
parking spot at the same time svan molier cycled up unbeknownst to all of them the shooter was hiding nearby
00:12:34
likely in a nearby Gully or the surrounding trees suddenly the shots began it was unclear who was shot first
00:12:44
but one bullet struck sard in the back while another knocked svan to the ground sard then ran back to his bam W
00:12:53
yelling at little Zab to do the same slamming and locking the door he reversed in a semicircle Direction
00:13:01
trying desperately to escape the onslaught in the process he clipped Silvan molier sard's retire got stuck in a
00:13:11
mount of dirt leaving his family Stranded the shooter then approached the vehicle from their Hiding Place with
00:13:20
careful callous Precision they shot sad ikbal and suala through the side windows both sad and ikbal was shot four
00:13:30
times while suala sustained three gunshots all three of them were shot twice directly in the middle of the
00:13:39
forehead the killer then returned their attention to Silvan molier pulling the trigger four more
00:13:45
times they stood over his body shooting him execution style directly between the
00:13:53
eyes investigators weren't sure at what point 7-year-old Zab was shot judging by
00:13:59
the injuries to her head the killer had likely either run out of bullets or their gun had jamed before they were
00:14:05
able to finish what they started instead they used the barrel of the gun to bash the child over the
00:14:13
head the entire Ambush likely lasted less than 60 seconds of the 21 shots fired during that time 17 of them had
00:14:23
hit the victims in the attack on zanab a piece of grip from the gun handle had broken
00:14:30
off coupled with the bullet casings this allowed investigators to identify the murder weapon as a semi-automatic luga
00:14:39
P6 the Swiss model service pistol had been a standard issue to members of the Swiss Army and police in the 1920s and
00:14:48
30s it was an odd choice for a shooting spree the kind of gun more likely to be found in a museum or private collection
00:14:56
rather than used to commit a brutal crime despite its age it was still considered
00:15:02
to be an incredibly accurate and reliable weapon allowing up to 48 shots to be fired in under 30
00:15:09
seconds only eight cartridges could be loaded at once with 21 shots fired this meant that
00:15:16
the L martiner Shooter had reloaded twice during the attack given that they'd managed to do
00:15:23
so while hitting all of their targets and without hitting the body of the moving BMW police were certain of one
00:15:31
thing whoever was responsible was an experienced and skilled shooter who fully intended to hit each one of their
00:15:40
[Music] victims news of the slang spread throughout the Anese region where violent crimes were mostly unheard of
00:15:50
cholene and its surroundings were considered incredibly safe the type of place where residents didn't bother to
00:15:56
lock their doors there were only 70 homes in sherlene making it easy for police to question
00:16:03
every household other than Brad Martin nobody had witnessed anything that could be of
00:16:09
use to the investigation or had suspicions about who the perpetrator might be except for a trio of Forestry
00:16:17
workers as reported exclusively by BBC's Panorama program one forestry worker was
00:16:24
driving down Kum Deere Road shortly before the shootings when they passed Al mtin a parking area to the left of the
00:16:32
clearing they saw a large motorcycle pulled over on the side of the road it was black and white with paniers
00:16:39
on the side the driver was dressed all in black including a distinct Dark Helmet with a visar that was pulled down
00:16:47
covering their face completely as the forestry worker continued down the public portion of the
00:16:54
road they soon passed another vehicle a metallic gray BMW four-wheel drive they believed it to be British as
00:17:02
it was right-hand drive the car was in good clean condition and was being driven by a
00:17:09
slightly barding male with dark skin the forestry worker was taken aback by how fast the car was driving on the
00:17:16
narrow road 10 minutes later two other forestry workers were coming down the restricted
00:17:24
Road above L martiner when they too crossed paths with the large black and white
00:17:29
motorcycle given that public Vehicles were forbidden from entering this section of the road they waved the
00:17:35
motorcyclist down the rider's helmet was distinct in that it had a hinged visor that could be
00:17:42
opened sideways to allow the wearer to hold a conversation without having to remove their
00:17:48
helmet the rider pulled the visor across revealing he was a white male with a goaty and heavy
00:17:54
brow he said nothing as the forestry workers told him to turn around around and drive back
00:18:01
down brat Martin the psychist who discovered the bodies had also seen this motorcycle coming down the Kum Deere
00:18:08
Road as he struggled up the hill just before 3:55 p.m. Brett didn't recall seeing the
00:18:16
metallic gray BMW but he did have a vague recollection of a large four-wheel drive passing him at some point along
00:18:23
his journey based on these timings it was deduced that brat had stumbled upon the
00:18:30
crime scene within a mere minute of the shootings he hadn't heard any of the gunshots because the sound had been
00:18:36
masked by the white noise of the Rushing River the only people who had heard the
00:18:42
shots were a local Father and Son but they hadn't given it much thought hunting season was coming up so they
00:18:49
just assumed Hunters were out testing their rifles neither brat nor the trio of French hikers who arrived at the scene
00:18:58
shortly after after the shooting recalled seeing anyone pass them down the hill this presented two
00:19:05
possibilities either the man on the motorcycle was the Killer and he' brazenly fled via the public road even
00:19:11
after knowing he'd been spotted in the area or the killer was someone else entirely and they'd fled via the woods
00:19:19
or the restricted route just around the bend from the marer although the rough narrow road was
00:19:26
clearly marked with a no entry s it was still easily accessible a person on foot
00:19:33
motorcycle bike or four-wheel drive could have made their way down the rugged terrain to the other side of the
00:19:38
mountain within an hour even a regular car could have made the journey if the driver was willing to
00:19:45
accept pothole damage to their vehicle from there there were plenty of possible Escape Routes with Italy and
00:19:52
Switzerland just a short distance away police considered whether the motorcyclist could have been working in
00:20:00
conjunction with the metallic gray four-wheel drive a suspect sketch was drawn up based on the forestry workers
00:20:07
recollection but police decided to withhold the image out of fear that it could spook the motorcyclist and send
00:20:14
him on the Run less than 48 hours after the shooting the crime scene was teeming
00:20:22
with local lent International media this was a major news story and the public were hungry for
00:20:29
information local police have been Sworn to Silence and the only individual involved with the French investigation
00:20:36
who was allowed to speak publicly about the case was ansy prosecutor Eric Mayu Mayu confirmed to the press that
00:20:44
the police were working hard to determine a motive all they knew for certain was that quote it was clearly an
00:20:52
act of extreme savagery and it was obvious that who did this wanted to kill the the French President vowed that
00:21:00
everything would be done to find the person responsible given that the crime was
00:21:05
committed on French soil against British citizens French authorities joined investigators from the UK to try and
00:21:12
answer the prevailing question was this a random attack or did someone want the alhilly family dead
00:21:21
[Music] for sad Al hilly one of life's greatest Pleasures was spending quality time with
00:21:34
his family he'd met his wife ikbal 9 years prior in Abu Dhabi where ikbal had been living at the time they married
00:21:43
quickly and moved into sard's childhood home in the British Village of claygate where they settled down to raise a
00:21:50
family ikbal put her career as a dentist on hold to be stay-at-home mom to their
00:21:55
two young daughters the trip to the French Alps had been a spur of the- moment decision sad had
00:22:03
business to tend to in the Swiss city of Geneva which was just across the border
00:22:07
from Anese even though Zab and Zena were due to return to school after summer holidays sad recognized it as an
00:22:16
opportunity for a short Family Getaway he adored France and had stayed in the Alps region a few times
00:22:23
before it also gave him an opportunity to take his beloved Caravan out on the Road sard worked as a freelance engineer
00:22:33
and he had a hobby for tinkering with mechanical Parts he developed a passion for caravanning after He restored a
00:22:39
damaged Caravan to its former glory he'd since purchased a new one and jumped at
00:22:45
any chance to use it sometimes he'd take his family to stay at the local campsite
00:22:51
just 10 mi from their home just to enjoy a change of scenery the family invited ik bal's
00:22:58
mother sua Al alaf to join them on their last minute French getaway the 74-year-old lived in Sweden
00:23:06
but was staying with her other daughter who lived an hour away from the AL hilles in Southern
00:23:11
England once word got out that the victims lived in claygate the meteor attention in Britain was
00:23:18
immense claygate was an affluent family oriented suburb 14 Mi Southwest of London a local family being the targets
00:23:27
of an international shooting was Sensational news both of sard's parents had passed
00:23:34
away in recent years but reporters gathered outside the flat of his only sibling older brother zahed AR hilly
00:23:41
zahed couldn't think of anyone who would want to harm sad or his family likewise other friends of the
00:23:48
family confirmed there was nothing UNT war in the alhilly household sard and ikbal were both kind and gentle and
00:23:56
their children were happy and well adjusted however there was one family member who
00:24:03
raised some red flags ik Bell's brother haar lived in Sweden with their mother suala and was
00:24:11
schizophrenic as a result of his mental illness reports revealed that haah had a
00:24:16
history of threatening and beating suala and that she lived in constant fear of him investigators considered whether
00:24:24
haar's mental instability could have led him to orchestrate the shooting they looked into his whereabouts at the
00:24:31
time of the crime only to learn that he'd been receiving psychiatric treatment in England when the murders
00:24:36
occurred giving him an airtight [Music] Alibi although sad had been living in the UK since he was a young boy and was
00:24:48
legally considered a British citizen his ethnic Origins were examined in detail anasty prosecutor Eric Mayu told
00:24:56
reporters the fact that he was born in Iraq that he had family in Iraq of course that's
00:25:03
something that is of interest and we are asking ourselves if there is a link between that and his
00:25:10
death a search of the ailles Caravan at Les Solita duac campsite revealed that sad had been traveling with a laptop and
00:25:18
several thumb drives when investigators checked the contents they found numerous
00:25:23
files filled with technical data and sensitive information relating to some freelance work sard had been doing for a
00:25:30
British company that sold satellites the data he'd saved went well beyond what was required for his job his
00:25:39
laptop also had tracking software installed on it which meant anyone with access to it could trace his
00:25:47
movements given his connections with Iraq investigators considered whether sad could have been selling the
00:25:53
satellite technology and other industry secrets to countries who wanted to use them against the wst perhaps he'd traded
00:26:01
secrets and been killed to ensure his silence or he'd refused to hand the information over and had been targeted
00:26:08
as a result sard's employers denied that he was involved with any confidential projects there was nothing in his job
00:26:17
that carried any risk nor did it require him to sign the official Secrets act those who knew sad were incredulous
00:26:26
at the suggestion that he could be involved with industrial espion Arch he was a hardworking devoted father who
00:26:33
enjoyed cycling and playing badminton in his spare time and was always willing to
00:26:38
help out a friend or neighbor in need sad was also outspoken and enjoyed debating his sociopolitical views so he
00:26:47
would have made a lousy spy there was no way he was involved in top secret work but for sard's neighbor Phillip
00:26:57
news of sard's death immediately brought him back to 2003 at the time the US and British
00:27:04
Armed Forces had just invaded Iraq the police had approached Philip and asked if they could use his driveway
00:27:11
to keep watch of the alil home they spent all day parked there watching the house where sad and his
00:27:18
brother zahed were living together at the time anytime sard drove away the undercover police followed him Philip
00:27:27
never knew why that were watching the brothers nor did he ever warn them that they were being spied on but it left him
00:27:35
curious on Saturday September 8th 2012 3 days after the shootings officers made their way inside the two-story mock
00:27:43
Judah home belonging to the alhilly family They confiscated various items of computer equipment sad had converted the
00:27:53
garden shed behind the house into a makeshift office and several potentially hazardous items were found inside that
00:27:59
made officers nervous the bomb squad was called in as a precautionary measure and the property
00:28:06
was cordoned off while nearby residents were forced to evacuate it was a false alarm none of
00:28:13
the items turned out to be dangerous however there were a couple of other things that raised
00:28:20
suspicion inside the house police found a taser the weapon was illegal and it seemed strange that a quiet family with
00:28:29
no enemies would be armed with such a protective item furthermore the locks on the house had recently been changed and
00:28:36
a new security alarm system had been installed whatever the reason it appeared that sard Al hilly was nervous
00:28:44
about something as investigators hustled to pce together a clear picture of sad and
00:28:54
his background 7-year-old Zab El hilly woke up from from her induced coma the young girl was making a strong
00:29:02
recovery but was still in a very delicate State investigators had to tread carefully when questioning
00:29:10
her Zab recalled that on the day of the murders her father had asked what she'd rather do that day go shopping in town
00:29:18
or go for a walk in the woods Zab chose the ladder Beyond arriving at lur martiner
00:29:26
and getting out of the car with her father Zab didn't remember anything except seeing quote one bad
00:29:34
man although she couldn't be sure zanab also thought she might have seen a silhouette zanab was given the green
00:29:42
light to return to the UK both she and her younger sister Zena were held at a secret location and
00:29:49
placed under strict police protection psychologists believed that Zab likely remembered more about the
00:29:57
attack but been so traumatized that her brain couldn't yet process the information investigators had to accept
00:30:05
that their star witness didn't hold the key to solving the crime instead they sourced archive
00:30:13
images of the shalene region from every satellite company in Europe and studied the stills from the day of the
00:30:20
shootings they obtained CCTV footage from the route the alhilly family would have taken from claygate to their
00:30:26
Campsite in France combing through footage captured from gas stations toall roads and Ferry terminals for a glimpse
00:30:33
of the family's maroon BMW they compared still images to see if the BMW was being tailed but at no point
00:30:42
did the same vehicle appear behind the family twice that didn't rule out the possibility that someone had tracked
00:30:49
their movements and followed them from their campsite up the K Deere Road but had they done so they would have had to
00:30:57
have sound local knowledge of the area to be able to facilitate a quick getaway without being
00:31:03
seen either the killer was a local which also explained their use of a local firearm or they' done extensive research
00:31:11
of the area beforehand 8 days into the investigation French prosecutor Eric Mayu told
00:31:18
reporters that although the motive and perpetrator's identity remained unclear there was no doubt that the reasons for
00:31:25
the crime originated in England the theory that sard was involved with industrial Espionage gained traction and
00:31:37
became a gold mine for the British tabloids while the authorities continued to follow this as a genuine possibility
00:31:45
another more plausible lead emerged the previous September sad had written a letter to a childhood friend
00:31:53
following the death of his father in it he talked about his relationship with his older brother
00:31:59
zahed sad wrote zahed and I do not communicate anymore as he is another control freak and tried a lot of
00:32:07
underhanded things even when my father was alive he tried to take control of Father's assets and demanded
00:32:16
control it's a long story and I have just had to wipe him out of my life sad but I need to concentrate now on my wife
00:32:25
and two lovely girls in contrast zahed Al hilly told the British investigators that he and his
00:32:33
brother had a good relationship after Zed's wife passed away from ovarian cancer in 2007 sad
00:32:41
invited zahed to temporarily move in with his wife and daughters in claygate zahid's adult son had left home
00:32:50
and Assad thought it would do his brother good to be surrounded by loved ones during his time of
00:32:55
grief zahed ended up staying for over a year during which he cherished getting to bond with the Zab and
00:33:03
Deena the brothers falling out was confirmed by other friends of ss it all started when their father
00:33:11
cardim Al hilly passed away in August 2011 at the time of his death cardim lived in Spain he left his estate to his
00:33:20
two sons who would receive a 50/50 split of the claygate home as well as Kim's Spanish flat given that sad and his
00:33:29
family were already living in the claygate property which was valued at around £800,000
00:33:34
zahed wanted sad to buy him out zahed also wanted to increase his share of the Spanish flat to
00:33:43
75% sad felt this was totally unfair and refused to accept Zed's demands tensions escalated and things
00:33:53
came to a head in October of 2011 zahed was still living in the claygate home at the time but was
00:34:00
looking for his own place to move into a physical altercation broke out between the two brothers that resulted in sad
00:34:07
calling the police shortly after sad changed the locks the brothers both obtained lawyers
00:34:15
to represent their interests in their father's estate and all future contact was handled by
00:34:21
mediators sad ordered a freeze on his father's will ensuring That zahed Couldn't claim any of the money until
00:34:28
the dispute was resolved in an online chat with his friend James Sad called zahed an [ __ ]
00:34:36
who was motivated by greed he said he had reason to believe zahed was involved in tax evasion and fraud and was
00:34:44
prepared to use the information against Zed if need be sad also told James that some valuable items went missing from
00:34:52
his home while zahed was living there which is why he changed the locks when sad was killed he hadn't spoken to
00:35:00
his brother in almost a year the fact that zahed had initially T police that the two had a good relationship raised
00:35:08
major red flags for investigators when confronted with the evidence that indicated otherwise zahed
00:35:15
conceded that there were Financial disputes but maintained that the two were otherwise
00:35:21
close he denied being involved in a feud with his brother saying that their disagreement regarding money wasn't
00:35:29
personal zahed had a verified Alibi for the day of the murders he had been at the seaside with a friend eating ice
00:35:37
cream and browsing the local shops while this proved Zed wasn't the one who pulled the trigger it led police
00:35:44
to question whether he could have organized someone else to carry out the attack on his
00:35:49
behalf the slangs had all the Hallmarks of a professional hit a precise experienced gunman firing rounds into
00:35:57
the forehead of each of his victims but if Zed and sad weren't talking how would a hired killer know to
00:36:04
find the ales in that secluded part of the French Alps the luga pistol was the only
00:36:15
tangible clue but there were roughly 30,000 of these weapons in Switzerland alone given that the murder scene was 30
00:36:24
mi from the Swiss border and the gun used was Swiss authorities in Geneva were also brought in to
00:36:31
assist they discovered that the business sard Al hilly intended to take care of in Switzerland related to a private bank
00:36:38
account held in his father's name sad had called the bank on Monday 2 days before his death and spoke of his
00:36:46
intentions to visit this was noteworthy given there had been questionable activity on the account in the
00:36:54
past sard's father cardim Al had set up the account in 1988 making a sizable deposit that was now Worth close to €1
00:37:04
million the account had barely been touched since which is why One Bank employee flagged it as strange when
00:37:11
someone in England applied for a credit card linked to the account just one year
00:37:15
before cardine passed away the employee examined the application form and noticed that the
00:37:23
applicant signature differed from the one they had on file the bank contacted cardim who denied ever making the
00:37:32
request a Swiss prosecutor publicly stated that the person who fraudulently tried to acquire the credit card was
00:37:39
none other than zahed Al hilly he claimed that zahed had forged his father's signature in an attempt to
00:37:47
gain access to the money in the Geneva account speaking to journalist Tom Perry for his book The Perfect Crime zahed
00:37:56
strongly denied this alleg maintaining that his father had been the one who applied for the credit
00:38:03
card regardless the Revelation that the ailles had a so-called secret bank account in Switzerland immediately added
00:38:10
to the speculation surrounding the case if the family had nothing to hide some wondered why they were squirreling money
00:38:18
away in an offshore account 6 and a half weeks after the shootings sad ikbal and suala were laid
00:38:28
to rest in a private ceremony held in the Shia Muslim section of Brookwood Cemetery 20 mi north of claygate with
00:38:36
armed guards keeping watch Days Later readers of French newspaper lont opened their papers to find The Sensational
00:38:45
headline the potential links between the AL Hillis and Saddam Hussein according to the article the
00:38:53
Swiss bank account had led the German secret service to uncover a link between kadim Al hilly and the former Iraqi
00:39:01
dictator shortly before Saddam Hussein's execution in 200 2006 he reportedly withdrew over 600 million from the Iraqi
00:39:10
Central Bank and deposited in secret bank accounts around the world including Switzerland the money smuggling was
00:39:19
thought to be assisted by Iraqi Nationals who lived abroad lemond theorized that kadim could
00:39:26
have worked as one of Saddam Hussein's conduits and Assad had gotten himself killed by trying to access the
00:39:33
money those close to the alhilly family scoffed at what they saw to be malicious
00:39:39
rumors it was because of Saddam Hussein's regime that the alh hilles had been forced to flee Iraq in the first
00:39:46
place kadim had been a successful lawyer turned businessman he'd amassed a healthy profit selling tissue paper and
00:39:54
poultry any money he'd hidden away was well and truly earned to suggest he'd helped laund money for the dictator was
00:40:03
hurtful to the surviving [Music] relatives this wild Theory quickly disappeared from the headlines but it
00:40:13
contributed to the growing narrative that sad was involved in some kind of Nefarious activity that had contributed
00:40:19
to the murders it was also revealed that he'd held some radical political beliefs
00:40:25
which he'd shared online in various Arabic chat forums this led to public speculation
00:40:32
that sad could have been the victim of a state sponsored assassination a theory fueled by the fact that both sad and ik
00:40:39
bal's passports were still nowhere to be found police had searched their home car
00:40:45
and Caravan as well as police stations lost and found offices and hotels along the Route the alhilly family had taken
00:40:53
on their holiday but the passports had mysteriously disappeared some speculated that the killer could
00:41:00
have taken them as some kind of trophy or proof of their hit similar assassinations had been
00:41:07
carried out in the past but those involved had been associated with Weaponry development or the military and
00:41:13
were deemed to be a threat to National Security there was nothing in s's background to indicate he fit this bill
00:41:22
furthermore if a Hitman really did want sard dead it didn't make sense that they
00:41:27
would also attack his wife mother-in-law and children while some investigators were
00:41:35
convinced that the crime had the Hallmarks of a contract killing others thought otherwise if the killer was a
00:41:42
professional Skeptics to the Hitman Theory wondered why the shooter had used such an Antiquated
00:41:48
weapon the fact that they'd managed not to hit the moving BMW proved their proficiency as a shooter but their first
00:41:56
shots had missed sard when he was standing outside of the vehicle if sard really was the intended
00:42:03
target the shooter had botched the hit from the very beginning also sad ikbal and suala had
00:42:11
all been stuck in the car making them easy targets for the gunmen standing directly
00:42:18
outside anyone with decent firearm proficiency was capable of shooting them at such close
00:42:24
range investigators consider whether sard could have been lured to L martiner by someone under false
00:42:32
pretenses his phone and emails records were checked but nothing was found to indicate a pre-planned
00:42:39
meeting a guest who was staying at the same campsite as the AL hilles recalled seeing sad having a heated exchange with
00:42:46
a man of Bulan appearance although this interaction couldn't be verified it fueled
00:42:53
speculation that a contract killer could have traveled from the Former Yugoslav it was rumored that Eastern European
00:43:00
Hitmen could reportedly be hired on the dark web for as little as a few hundred these men had been hardened
00:43:08
during armed conflicts and some were willing to use their lethal expertise for financial gain it was possible that
00:43:15
a master Contract Killer could have traveled to France via Road executed the hit and then disappeared back into their
00:43:22
home country as quickly as they came without drawing any attention to themselves
00:43:27
eles for investigators the financial dispute between the alil brothers gave zahed a compelling motive to want sard
00:43:35
and his family out of the picture but if Zed had hired someone to perform the hit why hadn't the gunman
00:43:43
completed the job by killing Zab and Zena the surviving daughters would inherit sard's estate meaning zahed had
00:43:51
very little to gain while all of these theories were compelling none of them quite added up this left
00:44:00
investigators with no choice but to consider another possibility entirely what if sard wasn't the
00:44:08
intended target after [Music] all ikbal Al hilly had become a secondary player in this giant media
00:44:21
story that centered mostly around her husband at first glance she was a quiet reserved stay-at-home mother who put
00:44:29
great importance on her Muslim faith but as police looked into Wick Bell's background they discovered she harbored
00:44:37
a secret on sard and ik bal's marriage certificate ikbal listed herself as previously unmarried but this wasn't
00:44:47
true not only had ikal been married before she was still legally married at the time that she and sad tied the night
00:44:53
in 2003 in 1999 ikbal had moved to the United States to pursue a Dentistry job before long a friend introduced her to a
00:45:05
man named Jimmy Thompson an oil worker and harleydavidson Enthusiast 20 years her
00:45:11
senior the two hit it off and married quickly ikbal moved into Jimmy's house in Louisiana where she embraced a
00:45:20
western lifestyle she went by the name Kelly and spent her spare time running and
00:45:26
barbecuing with the Jimmy's Family by the pool ikbal and Jimmy were happily married for 18 months after which ikbal
00:45:35
suddenly left the US and returned to Abu Dhabi some believe she was simply homesick While others think she was
00:45:42
under pressure from her family to marry a Muslim man and take on a more traditional
00:45:48
role it has also been speculated that her marriage to Jimmy was purely one of convenience so that ikbal could obtain a
00:45:55
US green card whatever the reason it wasn't long before rck Bal and Assad were reportedly
00:46:02
introduced by family members as part of a mutually agreed upon arranged marriage as far as any of the AL hilles
00:46:10
friends in England were aware sad had no idea that he was ik bal's second husband they were shocked to learn that
00:46:18
ikbal had lived a westernized somewhat outgoing life in the United States as this was completely out of character for
00:46:25
the conservative woman they knew in England she mostly kept to herself and was incredibly shy she
00:46:33
didn't even drive or go out to do the shopping investigators were curious to learn why ikbal had suddenly departed
00:46:41
from the United States they attempted to make contact with the Jimmy Thompson in Louisiana
00:46:48
only to make another shocking Discovery Jimmy had passed away on the very same day that ikbal had been killed
00:46:57
medical records stated that the overweight Jimmy had died of a heart attack while driving but when his family
00:47:04
learned that ikbal had been murdered just hours beforehand they began to ask questions an official autopsy had never
00:47:12
been conducted on Jimmy so what if he hadn't died of natural causes after all as reported in the book The Perfect
00:47:20
Crime Jimmy's sister Judy was aware that ikbal and Jimmy had kept in touch via email
00:47:27
this contradicted reports from the AL hilles friends in England who said ikbal was a technophobe who refused to let sad
00:47:34
set her up with an email address according to Judy when she went to check Jimmy's email all of his
00:47:41
messages had been erased the FBI got involved to explore the possibility that Jimmy Thompson's
00:47:49
death was somehow linked to his ex-wife's murder they even considered exhuming his body to conduct an official
00:47:55
autopsy But ultimately there was nothing to support the theory that Jimmy's death
00:48:00
was connected to the French shooting the fact that both he and his ex-wife had both died on the same day
00:48:07
was deemed a mere coincidence regardless the fact that ikbal had managed to conceal a secret
00:48:15
marriage left some wondering what other secrets she might be hiding very little was known about ik
00:48:25
bal's mother Hala Al laugh the 74-year-old widowed mother of four lived in the suburbs of Stockholm having moved
00:48:34
to Sweden from Iraq in the mid 1980s with her husband Abdul and their son haa she was reportedly a quied and
00:48:42
private person investigators hadn't been able to ascertain the exact reason why she had
00:48:49
decided to join the AL hilles on their last minute French holiday due to her age and The Limited
00:48:55
background information about her suala wasn't an obvious choice when it came to investigators trying to determine which
00:49:01
one of the victims had been the intended target but some suspicious elements quickly emerged that meant she couldn't
00:49:09
be crossed off entirely according to the book The Perfect Crime a search of sua's personal
00:49:16
computer revealed that it was fitted with spyware this meant that whoever had access to the spyware was able to
00:49:24
remotely view every move that suala made on on the computer installing the software would
00:49:30
have required technological skills that suala wasn't known to possess this raised the question of why
00:49:38
anyone would want to keep tabs on the elderly woman's online movements bank records didn't reveal her
00:49:44
to be a wealthy woman which made it even more confusing when sua's home in Sweden
00:49:49
was ransacked in the aftermath of the shootings several items were stolen including an assortment of personal
00:49:56
documents and bank records investigators weren't prepared to close the door on any lines of
00:50:02
inquiry but the possibility that suala was the Target and her daughter's family somehow got tied up in it went to the
00:50:10
bottom of the list another possibility was much more plausible from the outset of the
00:50:20
investigation the family of the murdered cyclist Silvan molier had requested complete privacy to mourn his loss in
00:50:28
peace because of this very little was known about him French investigators were confident
00:50:35
that Silvan had just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time others weren't so
00:50:42
sure Silvan had sustained more gunshots than any other victim five in total and he was the only victim who lived
00:50:51
locally for British investigators it therefore made sense to consider that silver van could have been the target
00:50:58
while the AL Hillis were collateral damage instead of the other way around until having recently taken an
00:51:05
extended period of paternity leave Silvan molier worked at sazus a factory just outside of anes that produced a
00:51:13
nuclear components some wondered whether svan could have been selling nuclear secrets
00:51:19
to other nations and had gotten in over his head or angered an enemy who wanted to put a stop to his involvement
00:51:26
it was even speculated that Silvan knew sad and the two were conspiring together
00:51:32
to S both their satellite and nuclear secrets but Silvan simply worked as a welder for cus he wasn't privy to any
00:51:41
classified information there was nothing in his phone or email records to indicate that
00:51:47
he'd arranged to meet anyone at L martiner nor was there any evidence that he and sad had ever crossed paths
00:51:55
before it also turned out that sard wasn't the only one allegedly embroiled in a bit of Feud over
00:52:01
money the Sunday Times newspaper looked into silvan's background and discovered that his partner CLA was from a wealthy
00:52:09
local family CLA had recently received ownership of her father's Pharmacy which was valued at just over1
00:52:17
million according to the newspaper cla's family felt that svan was taking advantage of their wealth and sponging
00:52:24
off their daughter when Silvan announced he was going to be taking up to three years off work and effectively living
00:52:31
off cla's income tensions reached a boiling point on the day of the shooting cla's father recommended Silvan take the
00:52:39
rude up Kum dear French investigators considered the possibility that this could have been
00:52:46
part of an intentional plan to rid Silvan of any claim to the family fortune but cla's family weren't nearly
00:52:54
as well off as reporters had claimed CLA hadn't been given the pharmacy she had taken a loan out from her father and
00:53:02
was paying it back slowly furthermore she and Silvan weren't married meaning he wouldn't have
00:53:08
been legally entitled to any of her money the theory was ruled out it was impossible for forensic
00:53:16
investigators to determine which of the four victims had been shot first but in one interpretation Silvan had sustained
00:53:24
the first bullet if true it was logical to assume that he could have been the intended
00:53:32
target but if money wasn't the issue what was a friend of Silvan spoke to French
00:53:39
newspaper lour sabua on the condition of anonymity they claimed that Silvan was known to be a bit of a ladyes man
00:53:49
according to the friend svan had once confided that quote he felt he had to be careful while
00:53:56
walking down the street because he feared he would be shot French investigators considered
00:54:03
whether svan could have been killed by a jealous spouse in a crime of passion but
00:54:07
there was no evidence to indicate that his behavior extended Beyond harmless flirtation Anese prosecutor Eric Mayu
00:54:16
told journalist Tom Perry we have examined his life from every possible angle in every aspect and
00:54:23
we have found nothing which explains to us why anyone would want to get at this man the French remained convinced that
00:54:31
the answer to all their questions most likely lay with the British victims but after extensive investigations another
00:54:39
credible Theory started to gain serious traction what if no one had been targeted and all of the victims had
00:54:47
simply been in the wrong place at the wrong [Music] time it was entirely possible that a
00:54:57
lone mentally ill gunman familiar with the area might have been lurking in weight ready to launch an attack on
00:55:03
whoever was unfortunate enough to stumble upon Martine first it might have been entirely
00:55:09
coincidental that a carload of people and Al lone cyclist just so happened to arrive at the same
00:55:16
time if the murders were the result of a random opportunistic attack the perpetrator's firearm proficiency
00:55:23
indicated they might have been ex-military or a member of of law enforcement and legally licensed to own
00:55:29
a gun investigators in both France and Switzerland examined psychiatric records on the lookout for anyone with a
00:55:37
military background who also displayed homicidal Tendencies they tracked down recently
00:55:42
released patients with prior convictions for gun violence or access to weapons but didn't find anyone who fit the
00:55:51
bill police also considered the possibility that the motorcyclist and the occupant of the mysterious
00:55:57
four-wheel drive had met at L martiner to complete a drug deal or other illegal Handover both svan and the AL hilles
00:56:05
might have unexpectedly Disturbed the transaction and been killed as a result this theory was quickly ruled out
00:56:13
as the Sleepy remote town of sherlene was a highly unlikely place for a serious drug
00:56:20
deal in France there were ongoing tensions between the Muslim Christian and Jewish community
00:56:26
which led to speculation that the murders were an islamophobic hate crime some theorize that a local racist
00:56:34
experienced with Firearms might have simply spotted the alhilly family holidaying in Lake Anese and singled
00:56:40
them out due to their middle eastern background but if this was the case it didn't fit the typical bill for this
00:56:48
type of attack if the gunman was motivated by race or religion investigators expected
00:56:54
that they would have taken credit for for the shootings in some capacity whatever the truth prosecutor
00:57:01
Mayu concluded to GQ magazine that the target quote was one the other or neither months passed with over 40
00:57:14
officers dedicated to the case despite the thorough investigation all police had were unsubstantiated
00:57:22
theories the public remained gripped with all the wild stories about spies assassinations and foreign Secrets
00:57:29
becoming the perfect fter for Tabloid Headlines by April 2013 7 months had passed with no breakthroughs in the case
00:57:39
French investigators remained convinced that the alhilly connection held the key
00:57:43
to solving the crime zahed alhilly was reinterviewed he maintained that the Fallout with his brother had been
00:57:51
nothing more than a financial discrepancy for which he held no significant Grudge
00:57:56
he said he loved sard and was heartbroken by the tragedy which he wanted solved as much as
00:58:03
anyone but when Zed was summoned to France to act as a witness he flat out refused Zed was vocal about his distrust
00:58:12
for the French authorities he felt they were using the financial matters between
00:58:17
himself and sad to deflect from the truth that the crime had its origins in France if Zed traveled across the
00:58:25
English Channel he feared the authorities would find a way to plant his DNA at the crime
00:58:30
scene zahed told GQ Magazine to be honest with you if the French authorities told me the sun rises
00:58:38
in the East and sets in the west I would think they were lying Zed wasn't legally obligated to
00:58:46
obey the French summons unless they had compelling evidence against him so at the advice of his lawyer he ignored it
00:58:54
completely this did nothing but add weight to the suspicion against him if zahed had nothing to hide the belief was
00:59:01
that he'd do anything to assist with the investigation police obtained Zed's phone records from 2012 and noticed
00:59:10
something out of the ordinary in the 3 weeks leading up to the ansy shootings numerous phone calls
00:59:17
had been made to and received from five different numbers in Romania the calls had stopped abruptly
00:59:24
after the murders the numbers couldn't be immediately traced leading investigators to wonder
00:59:31
what reason Zed had to be calling the Balan country Zed flat out denied making the
00:59:37
calls and had no explanation for them this coupled with his initial denial that there was any conflict between
00:59:45
himself and Assad along with his refusal to cooperate with the French investigation brought things to a
00:59:53
crescendo on Monday June 24th 4 2013 9 months after the shootings two British detectives visited Zed at his flat and
01:00:02
placed him under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder a team of police searched his
01:00:08
flat but found nothing to link him to the crime zahed was released on bail the following day which under UK law didn't
01:00:17
require a monetary Bond it simply required Z to continue living at his current address and stay away from any
01:00:24
other potential Witnesses zahed maintained that he never called anyone in Romania French investigators looked back
01:00:34
over their records and realized he was right The Unexplained calls had actually been made by sard
01:00:43
himself but months of Investigation failed to uncover a single shred of evidence linking Zed alhilly to the
01:00:50
murders his bail conditions were lifted with a spokesperson for the British police announcing
01:00:56
at this stage there is insufficient evidence to charge him with any criminal offense and no further police action is
01:01:02
being taken at this time French prosecutor Eric Mayu clarified this does not mean that we're
01:01:10
finished with zed Al hilly nor that he is Innocent by the one-year anniversary of
01:01:20
the shootings more than 3 and a half thousand statements had been taken with lines of inquiry being followed in 23
01:01:27
different countries with the investigation back to Square 1 in early November 2013 French
01:01:34
authorities finally decided to release the suspect sketch of the motorcyclist the forestry workers had seen near L
01:01:41
martiner right before the shootings they'd been working hard behind the scenes to identify the
01:01:48
distinct dark colored helmet the ryer had been wearing in the hopes this could lead them to its
01:01:54
owner the unusual style of helmet had been produced by a French company called GPA and there were only 8,000 of the
01:02:01
dark colored models in circulation detectives attempted to track each and every one of them down
01:02:09
they spoke to retailers and motorcycle clubs monitored online sales and searched the homes of people who were
01:02:15
known to own such helmets but nothing LED them to the mysterious L martiner motorcyclist the decision to release the
01:02:25
suspect SC paid off a local who saw the image thought the motorcyclist bore a strong physical resemblance to
01:02:32
48-year-old Eric deru a married father of three who lived just a few miles north of the crime
01:02:40
scene known as an eccentric Outdoorsman deru had strong knowledge of the woods surrounding the murder scene and was
01:02:48
familiar with the local mountain routs police looked into Eric deru and discovered that his was one of 4,000
01:02:56
mobile phones that had pinged off the nearest phone tower on the day of the murders not only did that put him in the
01:03:03
area at the time of the shootings a background check revealed that in the weeks leading up to the crime deru had
01:03:10
applied for a firearm permit he'd previously received combat training as part of his role as a French military
01:03:17
reserve and had recently been fired from his job as a municipal police officer due to alleged
01:03:24
misconduct it was also reported that he held racist views on Tuesday February 18 2014 a team
01:03:33
of police officers aided by members of an Elite Tactical Unit raided Eric der wasu's home as well as a property owned
01:03:41
by his in-laws they discovered a collection of approximately 40 weapons most of which
01:03:47
were related to the second world war and some which hadn't been obtained legally they also uncovered similar
01:03:54
ammunition to the that used in the luga pistol outside deras su's home a yellow tarpulin was draped over a large
01:04:04
item police lifted it up to reveal an old black and gray motorcycle both the bike and deras su's
01:04:12
helmet were taken away for further examination while officers searched his back garden with a metal
01:04:19
detector Eric adasu was taken into police custody and questioned for 4 days but he didn't reveal anything that
01:04:27
linked him to the ansy shootings nor was anything discovered in the search to connect him to the
01:04:33
crimes Witnesses who had seen the motorcycle near L martiner on the day of the murders were shown der wasu's
01:04:40
motorbike and concluded it wasn't the same one he was released without charge 6 months later the clothing sard
01:04:52
Al hilly had been wearing at the time he was killed was re examined in his jacket
01:04:58
pocket investigators made an unexpected Discovery there they found the missing passports belonging to sad and
01:05:07
dibal zahed Al hilly accused the police of incompetence telling the BBC it seems that the jacket has been in
01:05:15
the lab for a year and a half and no one bothered to search it so what other evidence have they
01:05:22
missed it was a sentiment echoed by others with almost 2 years passing and no significant developments in the case
01:05:31
some questioned whether the police had blundered the investigation from the get-go when members of the media had
01:05:38
first arrived at the crime scene the police Cordon had been temporarily brought down so that camera operators
01:05:44
and news reporters could wander throughout the parking area and capture their desired
01:05:49
footage this led to accusations that vital evidence could have been missed or compromised
01:05:56
furthermore Brett Martin the witness who discovered the shootings wasn't even interviewed when police arrived at L
01:06:03
martiner despite being covered in blood by the time police asked to take Brett's clothing as evidence several
01:06:10
days had passed and he'd already washed it while Brett wasn't involved in any way it added weight to criticisms that a
01:06:18
thorough job hadn't been done from the start GQ journalist Shan Flynn remarked you would think that quadruple homicides
01:06:28
particularly those involving middleclass professionals on vacation would get sorted out fairly
01:06:34
quickly that scores of detectives hadn't managed to do so suggested either epic incompetence or criminal
01:06:43
Brilliance the British investigation team started to grow weary of the French investigation which had seemingly gone
01:06:51
nowhere the more time that passed the more convinced they became that sad and his family had nothing to do with it by
01:06:59
focusing unnecessarily on Zed Al hilly alternative lines of inquiry had gone cold for the British investigators all
01:07:08
of the theories involving inheritance disputes industrial Espionage state sponsored assassinations and spies were
01:07:15
just distractions from the truth that the crime had its origins in France earlier in 2014 French detectives
01:07:29
Revisited the possibility that Silvan molier was the intended target they compiled a list of anyone
01:07:36
acquainted with Silvan or his partner CLA and set up routine interviews with each
01:07:42
individual among them was 50-year-old Patrice Manalo an Eugene firefighter who had previously served as a paratrooper
01:07:50
for the French Foreign Legion he was questioned for under an hour but it was clear he had nothing to
01:07:57
add police sent him on his way with no further thought to months later Patrice took his
01:08:05
own life he left behind a letter that included a surprising explanation for his abrupt suicide he couldn't handle
01:08:13
being considered a suspect for the ansy shootings investigators were stunned they never considered Patrice to
01:08:22
be a person of interest nor was he ever held in custody but now they were left wondering whether
01:08:28
Patrice Manalo had killed himself because he was in fact involved with the crime and was consumed by
01:08:35
guilt it seemed so illogical that a hardened soldier who had firsthand experience in foreign conflicts would be
01:08:42
driven to the brink by something as minor as a cursory police interview unless he had something to
01:08:49
hide an examination of patrice's Life revealed he suffered psychological problems from his 20 years in the
01:08:56
Foreign Legion he was also proficient with firearms and had local knowledge of the
01:09:02
sherlene area all of these factors fit the profile for the ansy shooter but they
01:09:08
didn't explain why Patrice waited 2 months after being interviewed by police to end his life and if he was
01:09:15
responsible why had it taken almost 2 years since the crime for the guilt to finally become
01:09:23
unbearable Patrice Manalo quickly Rose to the top of the suspect list but an in-depth inquiry failed to find any
01:09:30
evidence to link him to the crime September 2014 came and went marking a bitter 2-year anniversary of
01:09:39
the unsolved [Music] crime in a bid to identify the mysterious motorcyclist seen near the
01:09:46
crime scene police continued to cross check mobile phone records with motorcycle license
01:09:53
data in February 20 5 their hard work finally paid off the rider was identified as a 57-year-old man from the
01:10:03
city of leyon located roughly 150 km west of sherlene he explained that he'd been in
01:10:11
the Anese region on the day of the shootings by accident he was an enthusiastic paraglider and the particularly nice
01:10:19
weather that day had inspired him to ride the hills above Lake Anese to scope the area for potential paragliding
01:10:26
spots he recalled having a brief encounter with the two forestry workers but said he left the area after they
01:10:33
warned him about the restricted Road he hadn't noticed anything suspicious and hadn't been following the
01:10:40
story of the murders in the media so it never even occurred to him to come forward to clear himself as a
01:10:47
witness police had no reason to doubt this man's story he was a reputable businessman with a wife and children and
01:10:54
no criminal record nothing about him fit the profile of the killer nor was there
01:11:00
any evidence to link him to the crime he was released without charge with his name suppressed from the
01:11:08
media identifying the motorcyclist after all this time was a significant development but all it did was rule out
01:11:15
the possibility that the motorcyclist was involved if anything it was a case of one step forward two steps back
01:11:28
as the years continued to pass with no breakthroughs a new French prosecutor and Lead British detective were
01:11:35
eventually assigned to the case they Revisited the evidence from scratch in the hopes that fresh eyes
01:11:41
might uncover new leads the British team officially cleared Zed Al hilly from their list of
01:11:48
suspects zahed told the channel 4 documentary murdering the Alps that the hole falling out with his brother was
01:11:55
quote stupid and silly and it shouldn't really have happened but you can't turn the clock
01:12:01
back Zed believes the investigation was thwarted from the beginning and that French investigators were blindsided by
01:12:10
racism they didn't want the crime to have originated in their country so they saw the Middle Eastern family as the
01:12:16
perfect coverup Zed told a GQ Magazine to be honest with you I don't think there was an investigation I think
01:12:27
this was a declaration of war against us I think they hoped these Arabs would be
01:12:32
terrorists or drug dealers I think we were Mana from heaven for them the former lead investigator for
01:12:40
the British team Mark Preston appeared on the same channel 4 documentary to reveal some new information for the
01:12:47
first time he said that just before the shootings Silvan moller's bicycle chain had come loose ballistic evidence
01:12:56
indicated that Silvan had been shot when he was slightly bent over Preston hypothesized that the killer could have
01:13:03
been hiding in some nearby trees and pulled the trigger when Silvan stopped to check his bike chain he stated you
01:13:11
don't need to be a seasoned investigator to realize that the person who is shot first last and most is not going to be
01:13:19
the witness it is going to be the intended target to me it was very clear the killer wanted Moler
01:13:29
dead the French investigation team disputed this as it was scientifically impossible to determine the order in
01:13:36
which the victims were shot by 2021 Three French investigators continued to work on the case
01:13:44
fulltime they trolled through the files starting from scratch to see if anything
01:13:49
had been missed a full reconstruction of the crime scene was done complete with Witness
01:13:56
in February the new lead prosecutor Lynn bour told Swiss reporters I think we're nearly there
01:14:04
will succeed thanks to Scientific evidence this is not a Cold Case at all 4 months later the unnamed
01:14:13
motorcyclist who had previously been cleared from the investigation was placed under
01:14:19
arrest it's unclear if this was based on the revelation of any new evidence the the man was questioned in custody but
01:14:27
released shortly after with his lawyer stating I hope that those guilty will be found and I hope my client will never be
01:14:35
considered a suspect again this man's position is still the same he did not cross paths with this poor
01:14:43
family According to some reports he remains a Suspect with nothing to link either the
01:14:52
AL hilles or svan molier to the motive for the the crime the prevailing theory for French investigators is that the
01:14:59
ansy shootings were most likely a random attack committed by a lone gunman with no ties to the
01:15:06
victims the unsolved case has piqued the interest of many online sleuths they continue to discuss
01:15:13
possible theories including that the victims could have been targeted by one of several serial killers who were
01:15:19
active around France and Switzerland investigators have considered this Theory too But
01:15:25
ultimately ruled it out Zab and Zena Al hilly are now teenagers and have since been given new
01:15:33
identities in June 2022 British investigators interviewed Zab one more time to see if she could offer any
01:15:41
further Insight almost a decade after the fact according to Lou Parisian newspaper zab's recollection was now
01:15:50
clearer after arriving at L Martin Zab and sad got out of the car she remembered seeing Silvan molier on his
01:16:00
bicycle as the rest of her family were about to get out gunshot suddenly rang out zab's parents ordered her back into
01:16:08
the vehicle but as she tried to get back in she was grabbed from behind she first thought the person who
01:16:15
grabbed her was her father until she caught a glimpse of their bare hands and realized they were
01:16:21
white zanab struggled but was unable to free herself from their grip all she could remember before losing
01:16:29
Consciousness was that the killer was wearing long trousers and a leather jacket with the ongoing conjecture many
01:16:38
who have worked on the case describe it as one of the most difficult they've ever been involved
01:16:43
with as prosecutor Eric Mayu remarked to journalist Tom Perry we have tried everything possible
01:16:52
but perhaps we're in the presence of the perfect [Music] [Music] crime e