Motorcyclist is ruled out of Alps murder inquiry

A motorcyclist sought in connection with the murders of three members of a British family in the French Alps has been ruled out of the inquiry, according to reports, leaving police apparently no closer to a breakthrough more than two years after the killings.

Detectives have been attempting to trace the biker since he was seen near the spot where engineer Saad al-Hilli, his wife Ikbal and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, were gunned down on a forest road in Chevaline in September 2012.

French media reported that the motorcyclist was finally traced last month. However, authorities said the man, from Lyon, had no connection to the attack and was in the area “by accident”, according to France Info. He was interviewed by detectives from Chambery and told them he came to Chevaline to practice his passion for paragliding, the radio station said.