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Don’t tell me we’re moving into “Lilyhammer” territory now. All we need is a shady character on a witness protection program, who pulled the trigger.
@ Peter
I am glad that you are familiar with the genetic make-up of Israel’s population. In that case you will appreciate that your earlier assumption, that Israel is a “place where one would be likely to find significant numbers of people with “European” DNA haplogroups,” needed to be corrected.
I am wondering if we have somewhat different understandings of the term “haplogroup”? I believe we have been talking about Y-DNA haplogroups – which are passed from father to son, which have their origins thousands of years ago, in a single SNP mutation, and which can be further subdivided into haplotypes or clades, according to subsequent mutations.
On the question of Saad’s English, you raise a fair point. He arrived in England in 1962, at the age of 9 and from then onwards was fully integrated into British society (school, college, local girlfriends). Not having heard a speech sample, I cannot say for sure, but would expect his English, if not “perfect” (whatever that means), to have fallen within the slightly broader definition of “standard” that has become the norm in today’s multi-ethnic Britain.
The form of English spoken by Zaid contains some noticeable features, but these are most likely the result of his exposure to the English accent of Northumberland (Whitley Bay) in the North East of the country, where he evidently lived for some years. And (I guess) possibly also to the English accent of London (not strictly Cockney) in the way he pronounces, for example, the diphthong in “I” / ‘my” etc. This could be attributable in part to the influence of his Irish wife Geraldine.
The influence of his Arabic mother tongue can, however, be faintly detected in his occasional use of unvoiced alveolar trill at the end of a word like “share”, the overly careful pronunciation of certain consonants, such as the “r” in “mortgage” and of other consonants at the end of words. But this is by no means a marked ethnolect, I would venture to suggest. What makes him sound like a non-native speaker is not purely his ethnic origin, but rather this unusual blend of Northern and London English overlaying a faintly detectable Arabic substratum.
(Incidentally, after so many years in Britain, the AH brothers no doubt speak/spoke Arabic with a subtle English accent, or in a way which would enable residents of Iraq to detect that they had left that country long ago.)
I am sure from his time at RAL that SAH would have appreciated this joke:-
Brummie physicist (BP) wanders into the Chancellors (C) Office
BP Got some news loike.
C Oh, good news or bad?
BP We’ve discovered a new part-icle loike.
C Ah, that’s positive.
BP No, not at all.
C Oh don’t be negative, please.
BP Don’t worry, it’s not, it’s nee-ther.
C Do go on…
BP It’s newt-ral loike.
C Well then, we’d best call it the Newt-ron.
Badda-Boom!
Looks straight forward to my limited knowledge a few complaints of weekend noise and traffic to be found in reviews of other campsites ,to be expected I suppose if open late .
http://french-corporate.com/french-corporate/342/338/522/342338522-SZYMCZAK-PHILIPPE.php
GIP Thats one bad joke 🙂
Mr Juicy have a listen to Dr Ahmad Al-Saffar in Pinks radio link, the intonations are very similar to Zaids and he lives in Sweden.
There was more than one witness to the animated discussion.
http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/chevaline-a-la-recherche-d-un-etrange-visiteur-25-10-2013-3257705.php
« Une discussion animée mais pas décrite comme véhémente. Mais chacun à son interprétation de ce qu’est une dispute en fonction de sa culture », prévient une source judiciaire.
Why mention a cultural aspect ? Maybe because the two men were different to them ?
We know Saad spoke Arabic, his father spoke very little English (source: Britsh Estate Agent in Spain who dealt with Zaid for the purchase of the appartment).
James Mathews talks about Zainab using Arabic words, but thinking in English, I recall way back he said the parents and two girls spoke English at home.
Maybe the mystery visitor was just like the Motorcyclist from Lyon, another who hasn’t seen the news ?
What about the 4×4 and the photographer in Chevaline, they too haven’t seen the news ?
@Mr Juicy
” On the question of Saad’s English, you raise a fair point. He arrived in England in 1962, at the age of 9 and from then onwards was fully integrated into British society…”
For the record, Saad al-Hilli was BORN in 1962. When he arrived in England, the Beatles were history.
@M.
” Why mention a cultural aspect ? Maybe because the two men were different to them ? ”
What else? No need to question “haplogroups”. Even two Italians chatting together in front of Brits will seem to be having an argument. Monsieur Maillaud as TP strangely calls him is a man of experience.
Pink
Did I write ‘joke’ – my mistake – I meant ‘true story’ loike.
CAMPING LE VERGER FLEURI – RTE D U BOUT DU LAC CHEF LIEU 74210 LATHUILE
@ Pink well, the “Manager” of Le Flash would seem to also live/run a camping site in Lathuile,
guess who lives next door?
William Brett Martin
Are we not starting to get too many local co-incidences
for the killer to still be Zaid al-Hilli
MN
Your 4:07 pm post made more sense than anyting I have written today.
The item on your list that stands out for me is the “Cycle track from Ugine to Faverges”.
I had just seen this as an ‘indicator of intent’ such that someone in Ugine might see SM on his distinctive velo start down this cycle track and thus be able to predict that SM would be heading to one of his habitual climbs.
My focus was on totally on Ugine until James pointed out that the track went close by the firestation in Faverges. Then I thought that someone based at (or regularly visits for say training) the firestation might have some kind of motive.
If they often saw SM ride past they could seize the opportunity one day. The murders could thus be both ‘planned’ and ‘opportunistic’ at the same time.
Now you add in criminal elements in Faverges and thus a potential robbery (or other) motive(s) and the place becomes even more interesting.
If someone had a reason to dislike SM, then regularly spotting him riding past their workplace (or their home if unemployed), seemingly flaunting his newfound wealth and freedom, in fact practically waving it in their face, then that may feel like an intolerable provocation.
If there is any mileage in this, I would expect that the killer had a pre-prepared excuse to pop out of work for a while.
MN I truly have no idea I don’t know why I am even bothering again there is not a chance I could ever work it out when I look back at what BB and others turned up its mind blowing .
The fact that Kadhim could have had documents with political implications that came to light on his death seems a strong contender its all way out of my league and I suspect most of us ,my gut feeling is Jack Saltman would be best placed to know about the history of that era and maybe that’s why SAH talked with him .
On the other hand it could be a totally french affair and local feud ,it might be both for all I know.
It could be any number of things none of which I have a clue about in reality .
PHILIPPE SZYMCZAK est situé au CAMPING LE VERGER FLEURI Lathuile,
right next door to William Brett Martin.
So, there is no possible way that Phillippe does not know the Communal-Tournier family, or the Gotta Family of the Deronzier Family.
Or Hervé Bourne, who was the mayor of Lathuile from 2008-2014 as the campsite Le Verger Fleuri is adjacent to the Mairie.
It would also be inconceivable for him to not know Eric Devouassoux.
He would know all the younger people, he would know who were the drug pushers, who were the fighters, the bouncers, the drunk drivers, he would know builders, he would know people who would work for CASH, he may even know who likes to set fire to houses.
He is a lynch-pin of knowledge in Lathuile/Doussard/Faverges.
Bloody Hell, the cycle track from Ugine to Faverges, is also adjacent to the apartment of
Patrice Menegaldo, just beyond the Patisserie.
And you are correct it goes straight past the rear of the Firestation in Faverges.
Maybe this cycle track is important.
@GIP
X needs a motive, opportunity and alibi. Opportunity can be split up in 2 parts, time and location. So in essence X needs to arrange/have 4 things
– Motive (obviously)
– Location (Martinet)
– Time (15h30)
– Alibi (obviously)
We wonder why SM was at Martinet. Now that is a good question! We can deduce that X knew the answer … so how could X know this??
LMC reshuffled the whole thing. I’m starting from scratch. I am working on a very simple configuration, but still have to do some tinkering:)
@Max
I can only partly agree with you. Of course, the killer – X if you want to call him that – had to be in the right place at the right time, namely the Martinet around 3.30 pm.
But how could he have an alibi then? That’s impossible unless he has a twin brother. And a motive? Don’t forget he could be a lone wolf or a hired hitman: no motive or just money. The real question is who is he?
Maybe the question is ‘Why isn’t he caught?’
But, you are right, strictly speaking X doesn’t have an alibi, he however has a ‘believable excuse which is not true’
So EM & co checked up on an awful lot of people, and maybe X was amongst them, but he had ‘a believable excuse which is not true’
So EM did dig the excuse. X file was shelved, and the search continued … of course to no avail because EM already passed point X.
So … EM has to return.
In any suduko/game, when you run into an deadend/error, you have to ‘backtrack’ … which is rather frustrating, because it takes time and you have to do all over again, now hopefully making the right choices.
The DEADEND in TCK is LMC!
EM & co hoped this MC was X (or could help solve the case) … but alas, this was not true.
Therefor the need for backtracking. And what better start than from total scratch.
Now, I’m a guy who isn’t afraid to start from scratch. Goes with the job. So, that is what I did:)
As said, I’m still tinkering. Maybe one of you comes with the same idea. If so, it add to the weight.
That is why I replied to GIP:)
Marlens is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.
There’s a popular paragliding site on the hillside to the north of the village. The paragliders land at the village itself.
So close to the Ugine Cycle track is the apartment of Patrice Menegaldo, The Faverges Firestation, Le Flash Night Club, Carpenters, Timber Merchants
and paragliding.
Now didn’t the LMC person give his reason for being up the combe at Le Martinet as paragliding?
I expect you could get quite a good view of the Ugine to Faverges cycle track from the air, say from a silent paragider.
Also, you would be invisible, like the postman.
It was rainy and foggy that morning, so only a short window of oppotunity for a flight.
@ Melrose, M.:
Yes, sorry. The date was wrong, he arrived in 1971. Late at night, brain getting addled. Also, happy to respect the view that Zaid sounds like Dr Ahmad Al-Saffar. By the way thanks to Pink for posting that link to Al-Saffar’s BBC interview, would never have heard it otherwise. He comes across as a decent and honest man. Anyway, all this seems highly peripheral now, in view of:
@ Michael Norton, GIP, Max:
Brilliant work! Could this be a eureka moment?
Does anyone have a link to a detailed map showing cycle tracks from Ugine to Faverges etc, and the other places and landmarks referred to by MN and GIP? Without this, it’s very difficult to visualize, and thus to follow the reasoning, not being so familiar with the location.
PHILIPPE SZYMCZAK would know who the local couple were,
who were hospitalized by
Steven Havutcu
Along the cycle track from Ugine to Faverges, after you leave the area within are the Carpenters and Timber business and Le Flash, next is a road-stone dump and a run down farm. Next is a funny place called Les Grandes Pieces. These properties seem to have asbestos roofs, very tightly packed properties but absolutely adjacent to the cycle track.
The sign outside says “Haute-Savoie Habitat, Rehabilitation de 60 pavillons Locatifs”,
Does that mean low cost housing for rent for locals?
Then the Faverges Firestation, then Faverges, then Doussard, then almost to the door of Camping Ideal, Lathuile.
If it is true, as Caroline has said, that Mollier called Claire at her business in Grignon, to come home to Ugine, so he could go out on a cycle ride.
Doesn’t that have to be an important cycle ride.
After all, she was, at that time, as far as we know, the sole bread-winner
of their family. If not for an important reason, it would surely be a rare occurrance,
this activeity could not have been common or there would be no point in Sylvain taking three years paternity leave from Cezus-Areva to look after his new born son, whilst Claire secures their future by running and owning ( solely) her own Pharmacie Schutz, in Grignon.
So what I am saying is:
if what Caroline has said is correct, then Sylvain must have given a compelling reason to Claire as to why she should abandon her business to come to Lyon so he could clear off out, it can’t just have been because he fancied a cycle ride.
Lyon should have been Ugine
Michael, I am more inclined towards her return home being planned, to allow her time with the baby and him time for his favourite past time. A neighbour said he cycled often, of course he did.
The shop opened six days a week, when it belonged to her parents, Claire and Christine Baroud were Assistant Pharmacists, so maybe Christine was her cover that afternoon.
I doubt Claire was in the shop every hour of every day, I posted previously the level of salaries and charges paid in 2012, nearly 400K Euro.
Mr Juicy, Dr al-Saffar is the man questioned over the burglary in Tumba, re-read TP’s words towards the end of the book, computer WAS stolen from Suhaila’s flat.
Things is, EM & co (and we) mostly looked for a X5/MC ‘team’ to be the killer(s), and if not X5, then surely MC to probably be X. Hence the arrest of ED, etc. etc.
But in the end, with LMC, that was a DEADEND, and every effort in trying to find X by this (L)MC turned out to be in vain. Effort wasted (no critic from me, just stating the fact)
By mere luck (and naivity of LMC) the real X kept out of sight.
– – –
Ok, here goes my ‘configuration’
– SM was a biker
– His uncle said that SM liked to bike around Combe d’Ire (he liked the quietness)
– I guess SM liked to bike alone (as on the 5th)
– I guess SM did routes semi-random. Not every time the same route
Now, suppose he had told somebody that ‘Next time, he (SM) would re(visit) Combe dIre’
If that somebody is X, then X only needed to know what ‘next time’ is
Goes without saying that this X also needs some motive to kill SM
So my friends:
– Who talks biking with SM?
– Who could calculate/predict the ‘next time’
– Who may have a motive
Which person would fit with those 3 questions?
That person is a possible, even likely, candidate
Think about it. I’m curious to know what you can come up with:)