According to new information, a British child who was shot in the Alpine region and left for dead after her parents were killed recalls “the white skin and bare hands of her attacker.”
In the horrific attack almost precisely ten years ago, Zainab Al-Hilli was just seven years old when she was shot in the shoulder and assaulted all over the head.
She is now 16 years old, and shocking disclosures this weekend in Le Parisien revealed that in June of this year, British detectives conducted a lengthy interview with her.
Zainab has now offered additional specific details that may assist her finally solve the cold case, albeit she had previously only remembered seeing “one terrible man.”
On September 5, 2012, Zainab was first spotted by Mr. Martin, a 63-year-old retired RAF officer, wobbling about a BMW in a remote country layby close to Lake Annecy in eastern France.
Her mother Ikbal Al-Hilli, 47, her grandmother Suhaila Al-Allaf, 74, and her father Saad Al-Hilli, 50, were all found dead inside.
All of them had been shot, along with the 45-year-old father of three and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, whose body lay next to the automobile.
Zeena Al-Halli, Zainab’s 4-year-old sister, was later discovered in the trunk of the BMW, still alive and unharmed.
According to French police, Zainab provided “a testimonial of extraordinary precision regarding the scenario” in June, according to Le Parisien.
The family had been on vacation, she recalled, and they had been enjoying a drive through the rugged hills near the village of Chevaline.
When they reached the “edge of a narrow road dotted with potholes,” Zainab and her father exited the vehicle.
Sylvian Mollier, a biker, came into view, and as the rest of the family got out of the car, “gunshots sounded out,” she claimed.
When Zainab’s parents told her to get back in the car, the shooter grabbed her by the back.
She initially believed it to be her father, but when she saw the attacker’s white complexion and naked hands, she realised it couldn’t be him.
Zainab tried but was unable to free herself from the hold. She said the murderer was dressed in long pants and a leather jacket.
Following many facial injuries, Zainab was pistol whipped before going unconscious. Later, she fully recovered and went back to the UK, where she is currently residing.
Owner of a vacation house in the Annecy region, Mr. Martin initially believed he had stumbled into a traffic accident before noticing the bullet wounds and casings laying on the ground.
He had to put Zainab in the recovery position and cycle away because there was limited mobile phone reception before calling the police.
Le Parisien has recently acquired previously undisclosed investigation materials that raise the possibility that the murderer was unknown to all of his or her victims.
There are currently three suspects who may be involved for the atrocity, according to gendarmes who are assisting magistrates in their investigations: Mr. Martin; Pierre C., a businessman from Lyon; and Suspect X, a third individual.
Le Parisien reports that Mr. Martin and Pierre C. claim to have no knowledge of the murder and deny any involvement.
The time it took to kill numerous people is estimated to have been no longer than one and a half minutes based on phone records, other data, and testimony from witnesses who were in the neighbourhood at the time of the attack.
In January of this year, Pierre C, who was riding a motorcycle at the time, was detained but later released without being charged.
The “mystery motorcyclist” who was seen leaving the crime site while travelling alone and acting lost was Pierre C.
In November 2013, an e-fit photo of a goatee-bearded “primary suspect motorcyclist” was made public.
He was wearing a rare black helmet, of which only about 8000 were produced.
The photo, mostly created by two forest rangers who briefly conversed with the individual, eventually resulted in the biker’s initial arrest in 2015.
Mr. Martin claimed to have seen the motorcycle rider leaving the crime site but did not try to call for help.
Le Parisien reports that although Mr. Martin’s evidence regarding “the mystery biker” is important to the investigation, Gendarmes have speculated that Mr. Martin might have used it to “guide investigators to a bad working theory.”
According to Le Parisien, the gendarmes are also “puzzled” by the fact that Marin transported the clothing he wore on the day of the drama back to England to wash them despite having a second residence with a washing machine in Haute-Savoie.
Annecy is situated in the Alpine department of Haute-Savoie, which is comparable to a French county.
According to Le Parisien, the 63-year-old Mr. Martin’s life has been thoroughly scrutinised by the authorities.
There is nothing that would connect him to the murders, except a convoluted family history and some questionable jokes about Muslims, according to the article.
Due to the fact that the Al-Hillis were descended from Iraqi Muslims, there have been suggestions that their assailants might have had Iraqi connections.
In a thorough interview conducted the previous year, Mr. Martin stated: “In retrospect, I realise I could have been the fifth victim.
‘A motorcycle passed me quite slowly as it approached the area, around 200 or 300 metres away. It was a Trans Alpine-style motorcycle driven by a man in all-black attire wearing a full-face helmet.
I was unable to tell whether they were male or female because I couldn’t see their face.
I assumed they would stop and talk to me when they immediately slowed down, but they afterwards appeared to have a change of heart.
When you stop and think about it, you realise that’s interesting since he or she would have at the very least passed the crime scene.
It’s been dubbed “my luckiest unlucky day” by me. I believe that I wouldn’t be here if the individual who pulled the trigger had a few more clips of ammo.
Mr. Martin was at the time residing in his vacation house in the nearby village of Lathuile.
He now instructs pilots, and he and his wife Theresa reside in Brighton.
Minutes before the killings, he also passed Mr. Mollier, the cyclist who died, and a still-unidentified vehicle that was reportedly a dark-gray BMW SUV.
“Mollier came along the main road on a race bike,” stated Mr. Martin. We met at the junction, and I promptly made a right turn after him.
He moved much more quickly than I could keep up with, so I had to slow down. It took three or four minutes for him to disappear from view. A 4×4 vehicle passed me at a speed of 20 to 30 mph about halfway up the hill.
I muttered an expletive since the track was small and I had to ride close up to the edge of the gravel to avoid being clipped.
“You t*****s, you don’t have to drive so quickly past a cyclist,” I was yelling. That’s why it made an impression on me.
Mr. Martin described the crime scene as follows: “I first noticed a bike on the ground and then I saw a child emerge from behind some foliage.
Zainab stumbled to the ground after crossing the street. The fact that Mollier was lying on the ground in front of the car prevented me from spotting him until I was much closer.
The BMW’s wheels were spinning and the engine was running at full power. I wasn’t stunned.
I just performed the necessary steps because of my history in aviation and the military.
The moment the automobile started to move, my immediate thought was to get Zainab out of the way.
Her eyes were drooping, and she was waking and sleeping. Her head had suffered significant damage.
I subsequently moved Mollier away from the car. I checked for his pulse, but there was none.
I had to break a glass to get inside the car since the door was locked when I tried to turn off the engine. I then became aware of a bullet hole.
That is when I began to think, “Oh sh*t, this is something more diabolical,” rather than, “This is a vehicle accident.”
Mr. Martin cycled down the hill before stopping a car, who helped raise the alarm, because he could not obtain a signal on his phone.
He was given permission to travel back to the UK, but he afterwards complained that his garments had not been taken.
For a week or two, I didn’t wash the garments, but ultimately I realised that I needed to do so because they were my riding clothes.
They later requested them, but I refused, stating that they had been washed a month earlier. Oh, just give it to us, they pleaded.
Last year, Mr. Martin participated in a day-long reenactment of the murder day that included several other witnesses but neither Zainab nor Zeena.
If they wanted to, I’d be pleased to meet them sometime, Mr. Martin replied. Everyone in the world wants this case to be solved, and I feel so bad for them.
Le Parisien said Suspect X might be anyone, including a local rambler with a gun, a motorcyclist, or a motorbike rider, but he did not provide any other information on the theory.
Numerous ideas, ranging from contract assassinations to family disputes, have been put forth in relation to the so-called Alps Murders case, but no one has yet been put on trial for the crimes.