Chevaline killings: Luger pistol recovered from Lake Annecy 14 years later
A pistol recovered from Lake Annecy by British tourists could be the weapon used in the quadruple murder of Chevaline in 2012. The Nanterre public prosecutor's office has confirmed the opening of investigations.
Pistol discovered at the bottom of Lake Annecy reopens inquiry into Chevaline massacre
British tourists recovered a Luger pistol to the surface during a swim in Lake Annecy on 20 August, according to actu.fr. The weapon presents similarities with the one used during the quadruple homicide of Chevaline, committed in 2012 in Haute-Savoie.
The prosecutor's office of the unit for serious or unsolved crimes (PCSNE) in Nanterre, which has been handling the case since September 2022, confirmed Monday evening to AFP that investigations are underway to establish a possible link between this discovery and the massacre. The information had initially been revealed by the weekly magazine Marianne.
The facts of 5 September 2012
On that day, Saad al-Hilli, a British man of Iraqi origin aged 50, his wife aged 47 and his mother-in-law aged 74 were found dead in their vehicle, on a country road near Chevaline, not far from Lake Annecy. The three victims had received multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
A local cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45 years old, was also shot dead on the spot. One of the al-Hilli couple's daughters, aged 7, had been seriously wounded. His younger sister, 4 years old, found crouched under her mother's legs, came out physically unharmed.
A case that remains unsolved
The case remains one of the most enigmatic cold cases in recent French crime. No suspect has to date been formally implicated. As part of the reopening of the investigation, the Nanterre public prosecutor's office had already ordered new DNA analyses to attempt to advance the inquiry.
The pistol recovered must be transmitted to experts from the National Gendarmerie for ballistic and forensic analysis. The conclusions of these expert assessments will determine whether the weapon is indeed the one used in the murders, fourteen years after the events.
Source: TF1 Info