Luger pistol recovered from Lake Annecy may revive 2012 French murder case

Investigators handling the unsolved 2012 murders of Saad al-Hilli, his wife, mother-in-law and a cyclist have announced the recovery of a Luger pistol from Lake Annecy, close to the campsite where the victims were staying. British tourists who were swimming on 20 August retrieved the firearm from two metres of water, initially mistaking it for a toy gun before noticing its weight. The gun appears to be a P06 model, the same type identified from fragments of the pistol butt found at the crime scene.

French police’s cold-case unit is now conducting forensic examinations to verify the weapon’s provenance. The killings, which left the al-Hilli daughters—aged four and seven—injured but alive, have generated numerous theories, yet no suspect has been identified after years of investigation in both France and the United Kingdom.