Alps shooting murders: Patrice Menegaldo suspected, Sylvain Mollier blamed by family

A French foreign legion solder, Patrice Menegaldo, fits profile of hitman behind murder of British family and French cyclist in 2012, prosecutor says.

Menegaldo, who killed himself last year, was interviewed as a witness after the shootings of Saad al-Hilli, his wife Iqbal, mother-in-law Suhaila and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier.

Investigators are looking into Menegaldo’s movements because he exactly fits the profile of the professional hitman believed to be behind the killings.

Sylvain Mollier

In an interview for the Daily Mirror book The Perfect Crime, state prosecutor Eric Maillaud said Menelgado was “at the top of the chain” for detectives, who have been hunting for the assassin on both sides of the channel.

Zaid al-Hilli, the brother of Saad, spoke in an interview with the Daily Mirror, stating that he believes there had been a “cover-up” over the deaths and that the killer’s target was a motorcyclist who was also shot dead – Sylvain Mollier.

“Saad was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think they twisted it around. It’s not fair on the families and the victims this went on for such a long time with not a shred of evidence…There is a cover-up. I think they know who is behind it, who is the gunman and everything. It’s absolute nonsense what they came out with.”

“I think they know exactly who was the target, and it was Sylvain Mollier.”

Engineer Saad al-Hilli and his wife Ikbal, who lived in Claygate Surrey, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf were gunned down on a forest road in Chevaline in September 2012.

Hilli’s two young daughters survived the attack – the eldest, Zainab, seven, was pistol-whipped, which police believe was a result of the killer running out of ammunition. Her sister Zeena, four, hid under her mother’s skirt.

Zaid al-Hilli and brother Saad