A cyclist shot dead in the same incident as three members of a Claygate family could have been the intended target, a national newspaper has revealed.

The Sunday Times reported that an alleged vow of silence by those close to Frenchman Sylvain Mollier, 45, had fuelled claims that someone he knew wanted him dead.

Mr Mollier was found dead in the French Alps near Lake Annecy on September 5, 2012, alongside a BMW car, where Saad Al-Hilli, 50, of Oaken Lane, his wife Iqbal, 47, and her mother, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were also found dead.

The newspaper also reported that Mr Mollier was shot seven times. The Al-Hillis who were killed had been shot three times each, all once in the head.

The two Al-Hilli children, Zainab, then seven, and Zeena, then four, both survived the attack.

It was alleged Mr Mollier was involved in a dispute over a pharmacy business that was being transferred to his 30-year-old girlfriend by her parents and had left his job as a metalworker at a factory making nuclear components.

Police also uncovered romantic secrets Mollier of Mr Mollier and said he received a call from his ex-wife seconds before he died, it was reported.

The investigation into the deaths has focused on a dispute between Mr Al-Hilli and his brother, Zaid, 54, over their late father’s inheritance, but in a Panorama documentary shown on BBC last year, Zaid Al-Hilli said he had no idea who killed his brother.

Zaid Al-Hilli, of North Parade, Chessington, was arrested last year on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, and has been rebailed several times.