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Dramatic pictures of an antique pistol discovered in an Alpine lake by a British holidaymaker that could solve a 14-year-old quadruple murder can be exclusively revealed by The Mail on Sunday today.
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that → see → Sunday
Heavily corroded and partially covered in sand, the Luger handgun, which was retrieved from the bottom of Lake Annecy in France, could be a major breakthrough in the investigation into one of Europe's most baffling – and violent – murders.
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which → corrode → murders
It was found by father-of-two Kyle, 41, from Wiltshire, who was snorkelling with a friend more than 50 yards from the lake's shoreline during a three-week family camping holiday last month when he spotted the pistol's handle sticking out of the sand.
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handle → find → sand
Forensic scientists are this weekend trying to confirm whether it is the murder weapon that was used to kill three members of a British-Iraqi family and a passing French cyclist on a remote mountain road near the lake in September 2012.
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that → try → September
The bodies of Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, and Sylvain Mollier, 45, were found near a bullet-ridden BMW parked in a forested lay-by near the village of Chevaline.
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bodies → find → Chevaline
The al-Hilli's two daughters survived the horrific attack.
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daughters → survive → attack
Zeena, then aged four, hid in the footwell of the car beside her dead mother and grandmother while sister Zainab, then seven, was shot and beaten but lived.
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Zainab → hide → mother
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Kyle, who we have agreed not to identify, last night described his 'shock' at realising that his chance find could have been used in the brutal killings.
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find → speak → killings
Kyle, who works in the construction industry, discovered the weapon in around 5ft 2in of water close to the campsite where the al-Hilli family, from Claygate, Surrey, stayed before they were shot.
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they → work → Claygate
Exclusive pictures reveal an antique pistol that was discovered in an Alpine lake by a British holidaymaker that could solve a 14-year-old quadruple murder
Heavily corroded and partially covered in sand, the Luger handgun, which was retrieved from the bottom of Lake Annecy in France, could be a major breakthrough in the investigation into one of Europe's most baffling – and violent – murders
The gun was found by father-of-two Kyle, 41, from Wiltshire, who was snorkelling with a friend more than 50 yards from the lake's shoreline
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who → reveal → shoreline
It was a horrific crime and if I have been able to contribute in any way to finding who was responsible, then that would be fantastic,' he said.
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he → contribute → way
'I hope now that this is the right weapon and that the French police can now make some progress.'
Kyle and his wife and two sons, aged ten and five, have enjoyed holidays in their motorhome at Le Solitaire du Lac campsite in St Jorioz for the last four years.
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Kyle → hope → years
Their idyllic breaks – on the same campsite where the al-Hillis stayed – have been spent paddleboarding on Lake Annecy's crystalline waters and taking picnics on beaches.
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Hillis → stay → beaches
On August 20, a fellow British holidaymaker, a semi-retired teacher in his 60s, offered to take Kyle's two sons out on the lake in a small dinghy with an outboard motor.
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holidaymaker → offer → motor
Kyle accompanied them on his paddleboard.
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Kyle → accompany → paddleboard
At around 4pm he and the other man began snorkelling, joking that they might even find an expensive watch or jewellery accidentally dropped overboard by the wealthy French holidaymakers who sunbathe on boats that often anchor in that part of the lake.
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that → begin → lake
I jumped in and joked to the other guy "well let's start looking for that gold Rolex, then".
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's → jump → Rolex
I had a snorkel, mask and flippers and had been swimming around for around ten minutes when I saw a flash of gold on the bottom.
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I → have → bottom
I dived down but it was just a plastic clasp from a bikini.
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it → dive → bikini
I then swam for about another 15 metres when I saw what looked like a pistol grip covered in sand.
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what → swim → sand
I was always interested in firearms and learnt about weapons but straight away I presumed that it was just a water pistol.
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it → learn → weapons
So I dived down again, grabbed the grip and as soon as I started lifting it I could tell it was a metal object - it was extremely heavy.
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it → dive → it
As I lifted it up the sand started falling off it and I could clearly see what it was and I thought: "that's a bloody Luger."
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that → lift → it
French police initially claimed there was nothing they could do about the gun Kyle had found
Officers eventually agreed to inform their bosses and later that afternoon a team of police arrived at the campsite
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team → claim → campsite
I swam across to the other guy and said "I've found this Luger" and he asked to take a look but then started pointing it in the air and working the trigger and I shouted "no, no, no, we don't know if this is going to go off or not."
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this → swim → trigger
'My kids were still on the boat and asked 'what have you found Dad' and I said 'I've found a bloody gun, lads'.
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I → ask → gun
'But then I was terrified because I thought 'do I want to put it on a boat with my children?'
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I → think → children
But we had to get it back, so I put it in a metal bucket that was in the bottom of the boat and we took the boat back to shore.'
Kyle believes the weapon was too far from the shoreline, much of which was composed of reed beds, for it to have been thrown, raising the prospect that it could have been dumped from a boat.
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it → have → boat
Kyle says that only 30ft from where the gun was found, the lake significantly deepens.
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lake → say → ?
It may also have remained undiscovered were it not for this year's scorching weather.
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it → remain → weather
The water level in Lake Annecy is believed to be around 12in lower than this time last year, which meant it would have been out of Kyle's depth.
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it → believe → depth
Kyle took the weapon back to the campsite and began messaging friends in the UK about his extraordinary discovery.
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Kyle → take → discovery
Having been backpacking abroad in 2012, he was completely unaware of the Chevaline massacre and initially hoped to keep the rare gun as a souvenir.
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he → backpack → souvenir
But when one of his friends alerted him to the killings – and how French police believe that the murder weapon was a Luger – he finally understood the potentially huge significance of his find.
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he → alert → find
It flipped my opinion of wanting to keep the gun.
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It → flip → gun
It became really important that it gets handed to the right team.
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it → become → team
I wanted to find the best way to get it to the right place.
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I → want → place
Saad al-Hilli, 50, (left) his wife Iqbal, 47, (right) were shot dead.
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Hilli → shoot → ?
Daughter Zainab (centre) was shot and beaten but survived
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Zainab → shoot → ?
Mr Al-Hilli's mother-in-law, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, also died in the September 2012 bloodbath, along with cyclist Sylvian Mollier, 45
The car at the murder scene in the forest near Chevaline and Lake Annecy in the French Alps is pictured
After wrapping the gun in a Lidl advertising magazine and placing it on the floor of a tent next to his motorhome, Kyle spent a sleepless night poring over press reports of the murders and consulting ChatGPT about the exact model of the gun he had discovered.
Indeed, his conversations with the AI chatbot became so detailed that it advised him to stop handling the weapon and directed him to the cold case unit that has overseen the investigation in recent years.
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that → die → years
…and 35 more, not listed.
