The mainstream media for the most part has moved on. But there are a few more gleanings to be had, of perhaps the most interesting comes from the Daily Mirror, which labels al-Hilli an extremist on the grounds that he was against the war in Iraq, disapproved of the behaviour of Israel and had doubts over 9/11 – which makes a great deal of the population “extremist”. But the Mirror has the only mainstream mention I can find of the possibility that Mossad carried out the killings. Given Mr al-Hilli’s profession, the fact he is a Shia, the fact he had visited Iran, and the fact that Israel heas been assassinating scientists connected to Iran’s nuclear programme, this has to be a possibility. There are of course other possibilities, but to ignore that one is ludicrous.
Which leads me to the argument of Daily Mail crime reporter, Stephen Wright, that the French police should concentrate on the idea that this was a killing by a random Alpine madman or racist bigot. Perfectly possible, of course, and the anti-Muslim killings in Marseille might be as much a precedent as Mossad killings of scientists. But why the lone madman idea should be the preferred investigation, Mr Wright does not explain. What I did find interesting from a man who has visited many crime scenes are his repeated insinuations that the French authorities are not really trying very hard to find who the killers were, for example:
the crime scene would have been sealed off for a minimum of seven to ten days, to allow detailed forensic searches for DNA, fibres, tyre marks and shoe prints to take place.
Nearby bushes and vegetation would have been searched for any discarded food and cigarette butts left by the killer, not to mention the murder weapon.
But from what I saw at the end of last week, no such searches had taken place and potentially vital evidence could have been missed. House to house inquiries in the local area had yet to be completed and police had not made specific public appeals for information about the crime. No reward had been put up for information about the shootings.
Behind the scenes, what other short cuts have been taken? Have police seized data identifying all mobile phones being used in the vicinity of the murders that day?
The idea that the French authorities – who are quite as capable as any other of solving cases – are not really trying very hard is an interesting one.
Which leads me to this part of a remarkable article from the Daily Telegraph, which if true points us back towards a hit squad and discounts the ides that there was only one gun:
Claims that only one gun was used to kill everybody is likely to be disproved by full ballistics test results which are out in October.
While the 25 spent bullet cartridges found at the scene are all of the same kind, they could in fact have come from a number of weapons of the same make.
This throws up the possibility of a well-equipped, highly-trained gang circling the car and then opening fire.
Both children were left alive by the killers, who had clinically pumped bullets into everybody else, including five into Mr Mollier.
Zainab was found staggering around outside the car by Brett Martin, a British former RAF serviceman who cycled by moments after the attack, but he saw nobody except the schoolgirl.
Her sister, Zeena, was found unscathed and hiding in the car eight hours later.
Both sisters are now back in Britain, and are believed to have been reunited at a secret location near London.
There are of course a number of hit squad options, both governmental and private, which might well involve iraqi or Iranian interests – on both of which the mainstream media have been very happy to speculate while almost unanimously ignoring Israel.
But what interests me is why the Daily Telegraph choose, in the face of all the evidence, to minimise the horrific nature of the attack by stating that “Both children were left alive by the killers”? Zainab was not left alive by design, she was shot in the chest and her skull was stove in, which presumably was a pretty serious attempt to kill a seven year-old child. The other girl might very well have succeeded in hiding from the killers under her mother’s skirts, as she hid from the first rescuers, and then for eight hours from the police.
The Telegraph article claims to be informed by sources close to the investigation. So they believe it was a group of people, and feel motivated to absolve those people from child-killing. Now what could the Daily Telegraph be thinking?
@Straw44berry
22 Nov, 2012 – 10:17 am
Hey, take it easy, as BB just said, the Baligant murder was linked to on here weeks ago, by Katie, if I’m not mistaken.Am I right,Katie?
At least the DM is not ignoring the story and it sure does need the oxygen of publicity to keep it before the public, who incidentally aren’t buying it!
As comments are allowed, albeit pre-moderated, why not go on there and post some informed comments. Copy them on here and let’s see what passes the DM’s pre-moderation? That could be interesting.
Still no mention of the alleged DA Notice topics, you will see.
Bluebird…
Krowne….patent work…U.S. Naval Research Laborator.
Does that mean that the “work” he has discovered is the Navy’s and not FullProof LLC’s.
I thought that’s how it works.
Mind you with Bremer et al, “the Govt” and “the private” are one and the same thing. That’s how the money comes in.
I mean that how Reagan did it.
Apart from it was mainly drugs.
Strawberry 10:17
Tourist hating serial killer did it
If you follow the development of this special NEWS, about 2 days ago, you can realize quite easily how it grows from a minor “connection” between the two cases (old wappon …) up to a tourist hating serial killer.
But that is what the British Press has made. Making a fly into an elephant (as we Germans say)
So I would put my two cents that by tomorrow latest, there will be a rectification by the French available, if not by M. Maillaud himself.
Same procedure as every year- ahm.. sorry, typo, every time..
That’s a good example how MSM’s are working. (Not all- but several)
But at least, may be a clever strategie to get Maillaud out of his cavity??
Let’s drink tea and see what’s about to happen next…
I just posted this to DM’s story:
Did Saad al Hilli have any links to the Security Services?
Hehe, see how good I am at resorting to devious subterfuge!? What are the odds they’ll publish that? If they don’t,it must be a pretty strong indicator that Manchester Journalist was right.
If they do,maybe we’ll get some more answers.
IF-IF – it would indeed be the same killer, so that would mean, he/she was sitting there in the underwood at Martinet … for hours or even days… until a foreign family with children shows up, ready to be killed.
How weired is that?? Utter nonsense at it’s best!!
Mochyn I also posted a link to the recent Telegraph article on this, adding comments were allowed…… which were not pre-moderated.
Straw44berry
21 Nov, 2012 – 3:51 pm and James how about this? Seems to fit the bill. Could have been ripped off and bunged in the back of a 4×4?
stupid me … Straw44berry
21 Nov, 2012 – 3:51 pm http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Roof-Rack-Rail-Bars-Thule-Odyssey-360-Ski-Roof-Box-BMW-X5-2000-onwards-/390494454066?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D21%26pmod%3D290780441844%26ps%3D54
It’s in France.
It’s unsolved.
It involved a firearm.
Yes, I see the links !
I feel sorry for the Swiss gun makers of yester-year.
They’re not getting good “press” out of this at all.
Tim
I was thinking something like that but the bindings don’t look the same.
It was said yesterday that a Dutch woman at the campsite told reporters he had a (I assume, one) bike on the roof when he arrived.
The problem there is, the dirt on the roof is not consistent with carry a bike (or bikes) on the roof.
Now here’s the thing, Shelock posted a French news article yesterday, with a different (new) view of the car from above.
It wasn’t used by the “press” as it doesn’t show the full car.
For us, it’s good. There is a white mark above the rear passenger door. It’s in all the pictures, I thought it could be a reflection, but it is also in the new picture (totally different angle).
This could be a bullet mark…or where some has gained leverage on the roof of the car to “remove” some type of roof box.
It is also on the side of the car that has the broken rail on it !
I’m thinking that part of the rail is/was still on the roof box when it was removed.
Sorry James et al I/m still catching up from yesterday but re. the roof rack I think you could be on to something important. I don’t know why we didn’t follow up this line before. Amazing after so many posts something interesting can still arise! I noticed the only one fixing bracket and wondered but didn’t take the logical next steps.
Only the builder witness could confirm whether it was on top when the car drove past. Only the police would know if it was back at the caravan. Were the bike(s) hired locally or stored locally. If not we must presume the rack was for them. But going abroad with a full car the roof box is a more useful accessory I would say and you don’t remove it till you get back home do you? So if it was on top it was probably lost at Martinet.
Then question arises, why no police comment about it? A most obvious thing to announce in case it turned up somewhere. Again silence is suspicious.
So here’s a suggestion (apologies if I’m behind the curve and someone has already suggested) but WHAT IF this was a hasty journey to dispose of/safe keeping of Kadim’s incriminating papers incriminating CIA/UN/Israel in Iraqi shenanikins over the years that someone was anxious to get their hands on?
@Tim V 21.11.2012 11.06pm All very difficult! Near the end here, time to reach provisional conclusion on timeline. How many ways to skin a cat? (proverbial saying – apologies for any insensitivity) Enquiring minds will want to dig away to reach the truth. But you reach a point where, if nothing else turns up, the mystery remains a mystery. Will be as many versions as obsessed observers out there trying to solve it. That’s what a judge and jury are for. Using statements here from available “sources themselves” rather than recycled, inaccurate press reports. Without making an a priori assumption that the whole story is staged, but looking for those elements which seem plausible or ring true:
A few quotes – yet again ……
INEXACT EVIDENCE Many of Brett Martin’s statements contain slang or common expressions which add imprecision and inaccuracy. “about” “sort of” “fairly” “pretty much” “probably” . Sometimes more focussed, other times vaguer. Would this be how New Zealanders speak? Or on the flight deck? Eg Interviewer “You saw things that day that you’ll never foget?” “Yes, that’s fairly true” Working hypothesis – WBM is confident about elements which are publicly known, but vague when talking of things only he saw. He corroborates meeting PD. But seems vague about the possible presence of a shooter there. What, who, which, how had he seen things there. Vague about the vehicle that passed him. He tells of the results of the fiasco and what he then did, but not the way in which it happened.
CONFLICTING EVIDENCE. The 90 minutes cycle ride. Starting at 2.30pm Present at phone call at 3.48pm plus a schedule of actions at lay by before that. ?mistaken or careless about start time ?mistaken or carless about length of cycle ride ?mistaken or forgetful about rapidity of climb to lay by. If so why didn’t he say so? A puzzle….. Was this the version he gave when first interviewed by gendarmes and so its the story he had to stick to on the TV. For some it is a foregone conclusion – all fairy tale. Which seems an easy way out. But the alternative – finding a harmony between various accounts – this seems quite impossible.
http://www.20minutes.fr Eric Maillard press conf 6.9.2012 At the end of the conference at 2.50pm —- The bicyclist who found the body “usually took half an hour to do this climb”
WBM BBC video http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-19587272 13th Sept 2012 As usual in the early afternoon he went out for a bike ride for an hour or two. About 2.30pm he went out
WBM in Sky Video on Sun website 13th Sept 2012 – – – “From the village up to the car park on a mountain bike is about half an hour.”
WBM DEFINITE BUT LAID BACK EVIDENCE ABOUT VEHICLES GOING DOWNHILL – – -“Bear in mind I’d been out for about an hour and a half so I was getting fairly tired and I was grinding up a steep hill on my mountain bike pretty much just looking down at the road sort of because of the steepness and sort of the exertion needed And I had a recollection at some point of probably a 4×4 coming past me and at some point a motorbike coming past me going down” (ie from his answer it seems both of them went past in a downhill direction) – – –
BRETT MARTINS DEFINITE BUT SEMI IMPLIED EVIDENCE ON PHONE CALL WBM claims he asked PD to make phone call – – ?at 3.48pm “in my, quoted, bad French I was trying rather urgently to get across the point that that there had been a very very bad event up at the car park, and did they have a phone that had a signal? (eyebrows raised, asking), and therefore could they phone the rescue services? (head tilted up, demanding), which they did (nods up and down)”
– – – . On the way down there was a convoy of 3 Pompiers, followed by Samu (Fire then Ambulance) and 2 gendarme cars racing uphill sirens blazing. Later the police told him they had picked up news of the incident on the radio net hence they had come at once.
PHLIPPE D MISQUOTED EVIDENCE – MANGLED TRANSLATION Leparisien.fr 11.09.2012 “en voiture la route forestière de la Combe-d’Ire, sur les hauteurs du village de Chevaline, à deux pas du lieu-dit du Martinet, ils ont vu surgir peu avant 16 heures un cycliste affolé”. A little before 16.00 they saw a cyclist in a panic. (NB. Not 4.01 as per google which then morphed into 4.10 in UK press)
PHLIPPE D CONFLICTING / ADJUSTED EVIDENCE? – PHONE CALL http://www.leparisien.fr/ – – – 11/09/2012 Quelques secondes plus tard, il redescend de quelques mètres pour contacter les pompiers. Le premier appel enregistré par les secours, qui arrivent une poignée de minutes plus tard . The first call received by the emergency services, the paper claims.
What did they do when PD met the gendarmes to “recaler” What is this?
http://www.leparisien.fr/ – – – 13/09/2012 “The hiker, accompanied by two friends had planned a night race in the Bauges pastures. Philippe, who sent the call for emergency assistance is chronodaté at 15:48. A crucial witness. “I went back with the police on site on Sunday to readjust the positions and times,” says the hiker. (pour recaler les positionnements et les horaires) “get back, reset, refit, reposition, straighten out, readjust, retune !!!”
BUILDERS – QUESTIONED EVIDENCE? Did the builders see a car or bike go past following the BMW? No. Did they see any vehicles go past before the BMW? Yes , says the Evening Standard. Consistent or contradiction?
A http://www.leparisien.fr/ 13/09/2012 Al Hilli is seen going by at 3pm– “two bricklayers who are restoring a cottage in Chevaline, at 857 Chemin Rural dit de la Grande Combe and are sure of having seen them pass “at 15 hours, maybe a little later
B Le JDD 9.9.2012 Et s’ils avaient, aussi, aperçu la voiture des tueurs? “No comment”, lâche l’un deux. Did they see the killers vehicle? “No comment”
C http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com 11.09.2012 Lawrence, one of the masons working on the last house before the beginning of the road, it tells RTL , that neither he nor his colleague saw 4X4 or motorbike. “If there had been another car that followed, we would have seen it.” The workers claim to have seen pass break BMW burgundy al-Hilli to 15 hours.
D Evening Standard 11.09.2012 Laurent Fillion-Robin, a 38-year-old builder, also claimed there was no sign of any vehicle following the family. He was working on a house near Chevaline when he saw the maroon BMW drive past between 2.30pm and 3pm. He told police he had seen a green 4×4 and a motorbike heading in the direction of the crime scene beforehand
MISSING EVIDENCE Then how to explain the cyclists WBM and SM not being seen by the builder. There are the two other ways to go from Arnaud to the lay-by – (Route du Moulin and Chemin de la Combette / Chemin Ancien de la Combe D’Ire both from Arnaud) – to bear in mind and which could be an explanation for cyclists or a motorbike
CONFLICTING EVIDENCE how to account for the 3.00pm Chevaline sighting, the 3.15pm Arnaud pictures and then being at the lay-by at about 3.30pm? The gendarmes showed the pictures to people to see if anyone recalled the event. alpes.france3.fr/ 14.10.2012 Les derniers clichés remontent à 15H15, soit un peu plus d’une demi-heure avant l’alerte donnée aux secours à 15H48 par un cycliste amateur, ancien de la Royal Air Force, qui a découvert les corps. (Any likelihood of the Al Hilli watch being on Arabia Standard Time? ie one hour in advance.)
Mollier a conduit to fringe policos or Iran or trusted and obscure hiding place in return for payment?
re: the DM story.
I see what they did there, they simply re-ran the story Shelock linked to above:
http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/faits-divers/20121121.OBS0072/tuerie-de-chevaline-une-nouvelle-piste.html
Really hot investigative journalism there by the DM. Well done that man!
Pink
21 Nov, 2012 – 6:15 pm just got to yours pink which seems to knock my latest theory on the head unless of course “bike off roof box on” at the camp site. But my idea of Kadim papers in there looks very tenuous now.. But there’s still the question where did one strip and bike clamps go?
Sad domestic news: the gales have brought down my favourite 300 yr old Sweet Chestnut. Thought you would all like to know it’s an end of an era.
Regarding your question Michael Kelley:
By now there was no way to confirm whether or not Michael Kelley and Scott Kelley are related. There are too many Michael Kelleys. We’d need to know a birthday or else the name of his wife to get one step further here regarding a connection.
Michael Kelley
http://www.kelley.ws/michael_kelley_CV.pdf
This is his reduced linkedin profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-kelley/6/4ab/850
http://www.dr-michael-kelley.com/
This is brand new regarding Natalie Khawam:
Gerald Harrington, a prominent Rhode Island lobbyist and Democratic fundraiser gave a $300,000 personal loan to the twin sister of Jill Kelley.
Scroll down to the comments and look at the pictures and the scans! (Patrick Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, … they’re all there in the same team!
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/2959126/posts
see also
Khawam Natalie
DELTA MEDICAL CARE
6916 W LINEBAUGH AVE STE 101 TAMPA, FL 336255815 USA
Connections of Jill Kelly
http://www.intelius.com/Find-Phone-Address/Lynn+Haven-FL/Gilvira-Kelley.html
This is for Scott Kelley
http://www.intelius.com/results.php?ReportType=1&formname=name&qf=Scott&qmi=T&qn=Kelley&qcs=FL&focusfirst=1
(the correct Scott is the 46 years old)
http://health.usnews.com/top-doctors/scott-kelley-surgeon-84CC015505
Jill Kelley asked police for diplomatic protection:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-listen-to-jill-kelley-911-call-asking-for-diplomatic-protection/article5276228/
Here is Paula Broadwell’s brother
http://www.sutherland.com/steve_kranz/
OMG, 8 x 6 ???
@Olifant
22 Nov, 2012 – 1:36 pm
That’s pretty good, sort of .. as for the language, all those phrases are known as hedges – hedging strategies. I don’t whether it’s a trait of NZers’ English, but it would be a lawyer’s delight!
Yup James
21 Nov, 2012 – 8:35 pm I agree. As I have suggested previously the time line has to include the 4×4 passing WBM on the way UP between shall we say 3.15 (the latest WBM could have set off up the Combe) and 3.30 (the time of the shots). The vehicle EITHER also overtook SM, got to Martinet, parked up and waited for SM to arrive, dismount and engage in conversation with SAH with ZAH by his side OR arrived after SM and immediately set to.
I rather think it was the former. Why? Because the tyre marks at the top of the lay by suggest a standing start before the sweep around to the side of the BMW where the victims were standing. This all had to take place in a window of only a few minutes to allow it to pass WBM on the return and before he arrived at Martinet.
You see my point about timing though. Far from what the prosecutor/police want us to believe this could not be the work of deranged amateurs but a meticulously executed exercise timed to the minute. If the 4×4 was the killer’s vehicle there is no doubt in mind it was a very professional/military style operation what might be expected from an “SAS – type” outfit and it would need surveillance, control and co-ordination using radio. Is this what the sapeurs picked up at 3.48? And I have previously raised your point why not kill WBM? Presumably because he was “friendly” or just not on list of targets.
Finally if the 4×4 WAS a forestry vehicle as the police now say, what the hell was it doing at the site of a massacre at precisely the time it was happening, yet apparently didn’t even identify themselves for weeks? Quite preposterous.
Yup NR
21 Nov, 2012 – 9:20 pm . I don’t have the slightest doubt that both French and British police have access to all relevant SAH and Mollier communications both telephone and compute, in Al Hilli’s case going back years. This would give all contact information in run up to the meeting. Also significantly all the positions and communications of telephones in vicinity of Chevaline. That is why Maillaud’s statement that “there are no leads” is so palpably false on this count alone. And to repeat the point (it bears repeating) why the silence from this side of the channel? They were British citizens after all. When will questions be raised in Parliament of the Home Secretary? I notice the Lords are asking awkward questions about drone attacks. Perhaps we have to rely on the unelected House of Peers to find out what went on?
James
22 Nov, 2012 – 12:04 am Amusingly put.
Is it just me or does Xavier Baligant bear more than a passing resemblance to SAH?
Makes me wonder… why didn’t the DM publish XB’s picture? There are plenty on Google Images… are they short of money to pay the royalties?
And “police also believe the gun used in both attacks was very similar”???
WTF?
XB was shot by a 7.55mm snipers rifle, while SAH & Co were supposedly shot with a 7.65mm Luger. What’s similar about those two, other than they are both ex-Swiss army issue? Would a swiss army howitzer from 1931 be “very similar”???
The whole of central america is a “Narco-State” Bluebird
22 Nov, 2012 – 2:05 am. Shock! Horror! in US government. Who are the customers for this illicit trade. Why of course the people of the US of A.
Correction:
The calibre of the snipers rifle supposedly used on Xavier Baligant – a Schmidt-Rubin K31 – seems to be 7.5mm and not 7.55mm.
http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/index.html
http://world.guns.ru/rifle/repeating-rifle/switch/k31-e.html
I apologise. I was quoting from MZT without checking from first principles.
There do seem to be some of these still around, eg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU6hPXhP_ME
Incidentally, wasn’t MZT the first to link these two in her update of Sept 21?
http://www.marilynztomlins.com/articles/chevaline-the-forgotten-victim-sylvain-mollier/
re wappon
Did EM say as a matter of fact that it was a Luger 7.65???
I’m not quite sure if this had been withdrawn the next day, after it had been mentioned in the MSM’s.
Does anybody out there has a link available, if or if not…
re this stupid roof rack again:
I think rather, SAH had put something in this missing part… eg. USB stick, some kind of samples for analysis or so. Wouldn’t that be a good place to hide, as a potential “thief” would rather look into the car itself or the caravan.
(remember, someboy at the campside told, that they had trouble with the family because the car was always beside the caravan and not at the parking lot itself. So, to me this would indicate, that he wanted to have the car always in his vicinity… So that might be the reason he changed camp site. Which must have been an awful lot of work….
I’m still sceptical, that he’d chosen this kind of housing (camping) instead a Hotel if he was indeed so scared at it has been told (locks, taser etc etc)
Cheers Ofilant and Tim.
Just going through it again, just to get the words right.
It’s funny terms that are used in that interview.
Clear on his previous bike accidents, military med training and “being a pilot”.
Then “unclear” on the events of that afternoon !
A funny one is…
“talking to the French Police, that on that or their radio net they knew there had been some murderous activity going on and in spite of that very high risk, they went straight to the rescue scene”
What ! “murderous activity going on” ! “rescue scene” !
And he found this out in a “chat” with the French police !!!!
An interview with the police, surely !
strawberry 10 17 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236716/British-family-massacred-Alps-shot-crazed-serial-killer-hatred-tourists-say-detectives.html
going back to the roof rack (Roof Rack Rail Bars & Thule Odyssey 360 Ski Roof Box BMW X5 2000- onwards) the pick of the car includes what i always thought was a bullet mark central to roof over passenger door. I suppose it could equally be the mark left from jemmi to LEVER OFF the roof box which would explian the loss of the rack on that side maybe?
@BB: Great find linking Natalie Khawam the whistleblower lawyer with Clifford Krowne the Naval researcher and patent-holder. Was that a veiled threat in his interview?
John Dion Longworth also worked with radio frequencies and stray light, yet I cannot find any patents in his name. There are patents by relatives of his stepmother, and patents by other Longworths, but none by him. How could this apparently brilliant engineer with an apparently brilliant family have none?
So interesting that Longworth worked in a Purdue University research center that also houses a small UAV company, and also in a building where a drone-promoting group that sponsors conferences aimed at the military is located. Wasn’t it the US Navy that used the laser weapon to shoot down a plane last year, and later showed the video to the media? Indiana is a hotbed of military research done by contractors, including many small start-ups.
It’s interesting, too, that much of the work done by Surrey Satellite Technology has naval applications, and that SSTL hasmet with US military reps (link posted in first thread) regarding its small satellites.
Good find Tim,
I do think that style of roof box is the one used. Old and only 1 lock, just like the 1 my family used from 1995 on, I spoke to them last night about it. Probably SAH’s was older than the advertised one, and went alongside the bike bar still there…..
I have a problem -the front broken part nearside would be in the way of the roof box
I’m scratching my head????
ok please zoom in to the following 2 photos and note the differences to the car:-
2011 with tandem
http://photo.parismatch.com/media/photos2/actu/societe/chevaline-pdf/5085804-1-fre-FR/Chevaline-Pdf.jpg
2012 murder scene:-
http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1309986.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Scene+with+Saad+Al-Hilli
I believe it’s this statement that makes everything unclear.
“I had a recollection at some point of probably a four-by-four coming past me ,it was a large vehicle.
And again a motorbike at some point passed me going down and that’s really ,they were the only noticeable things for anybody coming down before I reached the car park”
Here he only states the motorbikes direction of travel.
He has already said that he is riding up the hill and “looking down”.
So it’s assumed that he didn’t see the 4X4 that was heading towards him (well I did).
BUT his claim is that the 4X4 “passed him”. No direction mentioned.
He goes on to say that he didn’t see the driver (or others) in the vehicle…because you just don’t note those type of things.
This “assumes” that you’re looking at the vehicle approaching you.
The 4X4 could have indeed gone UP the hill…then DOWN the hill.
Or indeed, only UP the hill !
Thanks Tim and Olifant.