CLAYGATE: French and British police on Saturday began searching the home of a British family murdered in the French Alps, as autopsies revealed each victim was shot twice in the head.
Forensics officers in protective overalls entered the house in a quiet commuter village outside London to look for clues to Wednesday's killing of four adults and the wounding of a child.
A party including at least two French police officers in civilian clothes was escorted into the large mock-Tudor fronted house in Claygate, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of the British capital.
Scene of crime officers erected a tent outside the front door and put on blue and white overalls, face masks and hair nets to begin the process of searching for evidence that might explain the killings.
Carrying clipboards and cameras amd wearing blue gloves, the forensics team started their search as uniformed British police officers guarded the entrance gate.
A French police source told AFP the search would be "very long" and would go "beyond the day".
Five gendarmes led by Colonel Marc de Tarle are in Britain to work on the case, though they did not all visit the family home.
Saad al-Hilli, a 50-year-old naturalised Briton born in Iraq, his wife Ikbal and his 74-year-old mother-in-law were shot dead in a forest car park in an Alpine tourist area near Annecy in southeast France on Wednesday afternoon.
Their seven-year-old daughter Zainab was left for dead and remains in a medically induced coma after being shot and badly beaten in the attack.
Four-year-old daughter Zeena survived the attack, hiding undetected for eight hours under her dead mother's skirts.
A local man, 45-year-old Sylvain Mollier, was also killed after apparently stumbling across the attack on the family's car.
At a press briefing in Annecy, prosecutor Eric Maillaud said autopsies concluded overnight had shown that the victims were all hit several times.
"All four were killed by several bullets and all four were hit twice in the head," he said.
A male and a female relative of the two girls who survived arrived in France on Friday night accompanied by a British social worker, though it was not known when they would be able to see them.
The traumatised Zeena has been in the care of French authorities since the brutal attack. Investigators have been unable to obtain much useful information from her so far and are hoping Zainab can provide some clues once she emerges from her coma.
Sympathisers and well-wishers have been placing bouquets of flowers and other tributes including teddy-bears brought by children to the house.
Surrey Police said they were assisting the French authorities as they carry out a "complex" investigation.
"As part of this, the force is facilitating a visit by French investigators to conduct inquiries in the UK," a spokesman said.
"We are unable to confirm any details around the investigation and it is inappropriate to make any further comment at this time."
Comments
Comments are closed.