There have been no advances in the horrible shooting deaths of the British family and French cyclist. I have not followed the investigation and just one bit of news caught my attention. On Friday it will be another year passed and the police investigation provides no clear evidence.
I have writte a few diaries, however on this topic I participated on a French blog from Paris by author Marilyn Z. Tomlins, a detective writer who was very kind and hospitable to host many consecutive articles. She stopped after about 9,000 comments due to lack of new insight/evidence in the police investigation. The French prosecution team has held their cards tight to the chest.
Only news that has elapsed …
Alps murders: ex-soldier questioned by police found dead
Press Association | The Guardian | 4 June 2014 11.50 BST |Man, aged 50, who faced two hours of questioning in connection with the Al-Hilli family shootings reported to have killed himself. A French former soldier questioned in connection with the murder of a British engineer in the French Alps has been found dead after apparently killing himself, according to reports.
The 50-year-old man, who has not been named, was questioned by police in April last year over the shooting of Saad al-Hilli, his wife Ikbal and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, on a forest road in Chevaline in September 2012.
A local cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, was also murdered. [Google maps route Ugine – Chevaline]
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Sylvain Mollier was employed by Areva/Cezus production for zirconium alloy in Ugine (Daily Mail)The man, who fought with the Foreign Legion and was a parachutist and trained marksman, left a note outlining how he felt about being questioned by detectives over the massacre, the Daily Mail said, and local reports suggested firearms were found at his house in the village of Ugine.
He left a “six- or seven-page note” saying he was “disturbed” by the questioning, which “made him feel like a suspect”, Eric Maillaud, the prosecutor for the Annecy area in eastern France reportedly said.
The man was questioned for two hours in April 2013, according to Maillaud, because he was “linked to Mr Mollier’s family”.
Tuerie de Chevaline : un homme entendu par les enquêteurs retrouvé mort à Ugine
- ○ Former suspect/policeman Eric Devouassoux, wrote a letter to President Hollande after losing his job
A new development I came across a few days ago, offers an explanation how an intelligence agency like Mossad knew exactly the whereabouts of a target for a possible assassination, whether it was Sylvain Mollier or Saad al Hilli, or both. Two days before the murders in the beauty spot Martinet, the Israelis started an evaluation program in Central Switzerland of a reconnaissance drone, the Elbit Systems Hermes 900. I had been discussing the performance of the earlier version Hermes 450 which had a range of 300 km from their mobile radar control unit. The flight location of the Hermes 900 was the military airfield in Emmen, near Lucerne in Switzerland. The flight ceiling is 30,000 ft and can operate in all weather conditions. Plenty of information can be found on the Internet, once a few bits of data becomes known.
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The Hermes 900 [4X-UEB] drone flying in an environment of snow-capped mountains was the inspiration to search for its location (Photo: ArmaSuisse)
The Hermes 900 is the most sophisticated reconnaissance drone with an unlimited range due to control to ground station via satellite relay. It makes one wonder about any connection with the Alps kilings, as one of the greatest bits of unknown is how did all actors show up at 15:45 on September 5, 2012 at such a reclusive location. The presence of Mollier and the al Hilli can be accidental, the presence of killer X was ultimately a planned assassination. Most focus has been on a 4×4 dark wagon or a motorcyclist with side bags as a person or persons of interest. None has provided any further clues as to an identity. Also mentioned was the possibility of a commando who traveled on foot and made his escape via forest trails.
What is known, the killer targeted cyclist Mollier first with 4-5 shots and appeared overwhelmed by the presence of the al-Hilli family and their parked BMW Estate wagon. One child was hidden underneath skirt of her mother and the older child was left wounded with a blow to the head on the parking, but recovered and lives with relatives in England.
Start of flying evaluation missions of Hermes 900 reconnaissance drone on September 3, 2012
Continued below the fold …
The Swiss Army is currently operating the reconnaissance drone 95 (ADS 95) an unmanned and unarmed reconnaissance system, which comes in the next few years at the end of its useful life. Armasuisse, the competence center for the procurement of complex systems for the Swiss army, were commissioned in mid-2011 by the Army Staff to evaluate a new drone system and prepare a procurement for the weapons program in 2015.
Based on the evaluation criteria and results were originally nine manufacturers of which two remain in the race. The two Israeli manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) and Elbit Systems (Elbit) have now received from armasuisse the opportunity until August 2012 to file a detailed offer. The remaining systems Hermes 900 (Elbit) and Heron 1 (IAI) will be tested by a project team of specialists from the Swiss Air Force and armasuisse under an aeronautical evaluation in the second half of 2012 in Switzerland.
Elbit Systems Hermes 900 Demo Video
Another video of the Elbit Hermes 900 UAV flying from military airfield in Emmen.
Evaluation flights
In September and October 2012, evaluation flights will be held on the Emmen airbase for the new reconnaissance drone system (ADS 15). The tests in September (03.09 up to 21.09) and October (01.10 up to 19.10) are carried out by a project team of specialists from the Swiss Air Force and armasuisse. The test flights will take place over central Switzerland and the Jura.
Aharonson General Manager and CEO UAS Division at Elbit Systems Ltd. speaks next to the Elbit Hermes 900 UAV during a media presentation at the airbase in the central Swiss town of Emmen on October 16, 2012. (Photo serie by Pascal Lauener of Reuters)
Google Maps Satellite Image Distance Emmen Airfield to Jura Mountains and Geneva/Annecy 220 km
Elbit to supply Hermes 900 HFE for Swiss UAS 15 program
By Courtney Howard | Executive Editor | June 17, 2014 |HAIFA, Israel – Officials at the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection, and Sport (DDPS) have selected Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) in Israel as the preferred supplier for its UAS 15 reconnaissance drone program. Implementation of the program is subject to further Swiss government approvals.
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The Hermes 900 flying in Swiss evaluation program starting Sept. 3, 2012 (Photo ArmeSuisse)Elbit Systems Ltd., an international defense electronics company, includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries and operates in the areas of aerospace; command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR); unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), advanced electro-optics and electro-optic space systems; signal intelligence (SIGINT) systems; and communications systems and radios.
That is no secret, the Israeli government uses former Mossad and Shin Bet operatives employed in the defense, homeland security and shipping industry to continue spy missions and prepare undercover operations for targeted assassinations as is seen in history and in the nuclear development of Iran.
○ ‘New York Times’ profile of group bent on sanctioning Iran fails to mention Israel connections | Mondoweiss |
○ Coalition of the Willing Against Iran: US Justice Dept, Ungar, UANI and Mossad
See my earlier diaries on topic of the Alps killings:
○ Review Alps Murder Chevaline – A New Suspect Being Interrogated
○ American Mossad Trainee Possible Killer X in Chevaline Murders
○ Annecy Murder Mystery – Baghdad al-Hilli Family Points to Mossad
○ Murder of French Cézus/Areva Manager, A Mossad Hit in France?
Some personal observations about Israel, sabotage and assassinations in the nuclear industry …
○ Mossad Prisoner X found hanged in Black Prison
○ Mysterious blast in center of Natanz, a production facility of zirconium for nuclear industry
○ Israel has no morals for targeting women and children in Gaza offensive
A perfect murder? Easier to pull off if the victims are irrelevant. Easy to accept that scenario if not for the seeming oddity of the al-Hilli family at that particular location and the length of time they were there, but that impression may have been given by the mostly poor reporting and not the al-Hilli family movements that day. (After almost two years, have yet to read what cyclists normally did after reaching the end of the road (site of the murders). Did they turn around as cars do or are there other egress routes?)
This would seem relevant (and I missed it when originally reported):
Perhaps the most bizarre coincidence of all was 9/5/12 natural death of James Thompson in Mississippi.
Another bizarre coincidence both Saad al-Hilli and Sabah Al Shaikhly worked/works in satellite communications, but apparently the only connection between the two was Igbal and could conceivably have not even known of each other.
In the Haute Savoie a wall of silence as is seen with the Mollier family and the ‘in-laws” of the Schutz pharmacy. A bizarre police investigation with just a few directed leaks at a chosen moment to some journalist in France. The British boulevard press is not helping as they are in it for sensationalism.
“Given the facts which are now circulating, investigators are looking to make a new demand to the FBI The Mail has discovered that this latest twist in the Alps tragedy was randomly dropped into a conversation between a police officer and a French journalist from a local paper in recent weeks. Officers have now told the Mail that they knew about the first marriage as early as December 2012.”
Remarkable how Thompson fits the description of the motorcycle rider who never reported back to police as a witness. Black humor of the prosecution?
The motorcyclist sketch looks nothing like Thompson. Not that it would matter if it did considering that he died the same day as the Annecy massacre.
The weak point in your take that Mollier was the target is that with the arrival of the al-Hilli family at the layby before Mollier, the shooter had to choose between postponing the assassination or killing four instead of one person. And while adding to the body count may not have posed a moral problem for the shooter, it did increase the number of shots that others in the area could have heard and delay his/her quick get away. The shooter couldn’t have known within the split second he/she had to make the decision that adding the al-Hilli victims would complicate the investigation and not simplify it.
Of course Thompson is not the killer. I’m inferring that the sketch [published after 14 months] is a joke and could just as well be a fake. The ONF guys are unreliable, didn’t come forward for 2/3 weeks. The investigation, assumptions made, focus on older brother/inheritance, the bs link to Saddam Hussein and the profile of the murderer is all highly suspicious. The leaks of false leads is just crazy. The French investigation focused on the UK and called Mollier as being in the wrong place at the wrong time within 24 hours. Not all venues were equally investigated and the police went often off on a tangent. Playing the media, not giving an impression of competence and reliablility.
The hit, either by design or luck, was clean. The ONF may have fumbled what little information they managed to gather, but there was so little that it probably didn’t make a difference.
Absent any slam-dunk evidence gathered in the first day indicting that Mollier was the intended victim, it was a smart move to point towards al-Hilli as the likely intended victim while quietly and thoroughly also investigating the alternative and hoping a local perp makes a mistake.
Too many perfectly reasonable explanations why the sketch was only released fourteen months after the fact, including that it was based on so little information that it was too unreliable to bother with releasing early. Why they would release a fake sketch is more difficult for me to fathom.
○ UAE: AREVA wins a major contract to supply enriched uranium – August 15, 2012
○ Beyond the Notorious: UAE Export Controls and Proliferation; Illicit trading with Iran
○ France built Dimona plant and gave Israel the Nuclear bomb
○ The recent drone incident above Iranian territory, could it have been an advanced Hermes 900 UAV?
In my archive, I still have this comment posted very early after the murders became known:
“I copied the few commments on the indymedia site, earlier, just after the DA-notice comment from `Manchester based Journalist’, but not including the comment of 15:12 quoted by Anon here, concerning General Yossi Ben Hanan (chief of defence at Paris Israeli embassy) picking up three unknown others in helicopter at Chambery Airport (close to the scene).”
At the time I listed the post as “uncorroborated.” Has this event been discussed and considered false? Pls advise.
As of today, I will change my opinion to “possible”or even “more likely.”
See earlier post by Mochyn69 6-18-2013 at 12:50:45
The DA Notice System.
More recently, the Secretary had been asked how many `D Notices’ had been issued to the BBC between August 2011-12 and whether there were any `D Notice’ restrictions on the reporting of the murders of the Al Hilli family. These and several other requests showed how little the DA Notice System, its span of oversight and workings were understood by the general public.
Minutes of a meeting held at the Ministry of Defence on Thursday 1 November 2012 – Andrew Vallance, DPBAC
++++++
About Yossi Ben-Hanan – Director of SIBAT, Israel MOD – has been involved with the military-industrial complex across the globe. All shows of military equipment and demonstrations Yossi Ben-Hanan would be present. See
○ FIDAE, Air and Space show in Santiago, Chile – March 29th, 2004
○ Eurosatory 2006 Aerospace show in Paris – June 12th, 2006
Large military contracts with India and Russia [pdf] lists his presence.
One of the arguments to put this event aside was Yossi Ben-Hanan had retired in June 2012 from his post as head of the Defense Ministry acquisitions delegation in France.
However, I just googled as follows: Yossi Ben-Hanan was badly injured on the Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur war of 1973, he was rescued by a daring commando action of Yonathan Nethanyahu. Ben-Hanan named his son Yoni, he works at the Israeli embassy in Paris! A good reason to visit Paris in September 2012 and take part in a special operation? Ben-Hanan has exceptional knowledge of Paris, IAI and Elbit Systems.
See also my earlier comment here @BooMan – No trace left of D-notice at Indymedia UK … I’ll have to disregard it as false.
This was my report in December 2012 …
Annecy Murder Mystery – Baghdad al-Hilli Family Points to Mossad
The Iranian article, which I didn’t find, mentioned Yossi Ben Hanan in Paris. That is not speculative, he is operating within France for businees opportunities between France and Israel.
○ Targeted Killing as a Silver Bullet
○ Israel Spied on Meshal, and Targeted Deif for Assassination
○ Gaza War: Bringing Out the Worst in Israeli Misogyny, Racism
Admitted or get caught … passport row New Zealand (2004); Dubai liquidation of Mabhouh and passport rage (2010); poisoning Khaled Mashaal in Jordan (1997); Christchurch earthquake killed Mossad agent (2011); designer Iraq’s super cannon killed by ‘executive action‘ in Belgium (US citizen liquidated by Israel’s Mossad in 1990). The latter case has some similarity in possible motive with the Annecy assassination. Who killed Gerald Victor Bull?
The Jordan case of Mashaal is covered in an Al Jazeera documentary Kill Him Silently. Mossad chief Danny Yatom is also interviewed, Amsterdam is noted as Mossad hub.
What was happening in Israel on the day of the Chevaline killings? Iran, Iran, Iran!
Security Breach Inside Netanyahu’s Bunker on Iran Strike
by Oui on Wed Sep 5th, 2012 at 12:55:12 PM PDT
Netanyahu adjourns Iran security meeting over leak
(JPost) – In a rare and dramatic move, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday adjourned, because of leaks to the press, the second part of a security cabinet meeting that began Tuesday and dealt with Iran.
Netanyahu, according to a statement issued by his office, said at the outset of the meeting that “something grave happened shortly after the conclusion of the meeting yesterday: leaks from the security cabinet meeting.”
This must have been the reason I suggested a link to the intelligence community early on …
.
○ Report: US to supply bunker busters and refueling jets to Israel in exchange for holding off Iran strike until after elections
The heinous acts by the Mossad have been well documented, anyone researched the beast Meir Dagan?
.
○ PM Netanyahu: World has no right to give Israel a ‘red light’ | JPost | Sept. 11, 2012 |
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the world has “no moral right” to put a “red light” in front of Israel if it refuses to set a “red line” for Iran.
…
Adding to the public spat between the allies, Likud MK Danny Danon reprimanded Clinton for her position, calling it a “slap in the face” to Israel and lecturing her on the significance of the issue on the anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks.
“Your words on not setting red lines for the Iranians are are a slap in the face to the State of Israel,” Danon wrote in an urgent dispatch to Clinton.
“This irresponsibility in handing the Iranian issue is dangerous to the Western world. On the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, there is a need to issue clear lines to the Iranians, who are threatening the entire Western world,” he continued.
Danon is in Washington promoting his new book, Israel: The Will to Prevail, which is highly critical of US President Barack Obama.
@Ricki Tarr
7 Sep, 2014 – 10:48 pm
I had posted about the Chasseurs Alpins before and the connections to the Schutz family – here and here.
Parcours militaire
1968 – 1969
7ème Bataillon De Chasseurs Alpins BOURG SAINT MAURICE
2eme compagnie service TAM instructeur de tir
1956 – Classe de mme blanc mappat Leonie – Ecole D’arêches both Roland Chevallier and Dominique Schutz (Nov. 20, 1948) Saint Pierre d’Albigny [uncle of Claire and brother of Thierry Schutz]
When a state wants to obfuscate a story, throw in some CT accusations. A theory advocated by Samantha Power’s husband Cass Sunstein. He worked for the Obama administration.
Obama, Sunstein, Vermeule and "Conspiracy Theories" (Lisa Pease)
Jewish Chronicle Online: Rejection of ‘It Was a Mossad Hit’
Of course the Israeli press has more pressing matters with Benjamin Netanyahu’s war rhetoric to worry about a murder of 4 near Annecy, France. I did not miss the fact that the first days the Annecy or France Alps Killings was a headline worldwide, but not in Israel. The best way to counteract the few articles that speculate on a Mossad hit, is to make fun of such a ridiculous fantasy and deposit it in a conspiracy corner or standard anti-Israel rhetoric. Here is an article by The Jewish Chronicle Online.
○ A legal opinion by Sarah Progin-Theuerkauf, Professor of European Law and European Migration Law