Mystery Annecy biker is traced

THE mystery motorcyclist sought in connection with the murders of British-Iraqi businessman Saad al-Hilli and three others near Annecy in 2012 has been identified and says he saw nothing on the day of the killings.

Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud, who is leading the investigation in to the killings of Mr al-Hilli, his wife, mother-in-law and a French cyclist, said that the biker was a “well-known business owner in Rhône-Alpes who was above all suspicion”.

A police sketch of the man had been circulated across Europe in a bid to identify the biker, who gendarmes thought would have been a key witness at the least. The man was identified after studies of mobile phone usage.

He said he had not seen any of the massive coverage of the case or the posters that were widely distributed. He had been in the area of the Chevaline killings to go hang-gliding and told investigators that he had seen nothing.

However, Mr Maillaud said that he would be facing further questioning “to revive his memories”.

In February last year a local policeman was arrested and questioned for four days after he was mistakenly caught up in the inquiry.