Daughter of Alps murder victims back in UK

The home of Saad al-Hilli, in Claygate, England, continues to be guarded by Surrey Police, who are assisting French police, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012. / AP Photo

(AP) PARIS - The younger daughter of a British-Iraqi couple slain while vacationing in the French Alps has returned to Britain, while her badly wounded older sister has come out of an artificial coma, authorities said Sunday.

Four-year-old Zeena and 7-year-old Zaina survived a vicious shooting that killed their parents, Saad and Iqbal al-Hilli, as well as a still-unidentified older woman and a French man who apparently happened to be passing by on his bicycle.

French police have been scrambling to hunt down leads since Wednesday's rampage, while relatives of the couple arrived in France to take care of the girls. Authorities say they are probing whether an alleged financial dispute between Saad al-Hilli and his brother Zaid played a role, though the surviving brother has denied any conflict.

24 Photos

Four shot dead in French Alps

Eric Maillaud, the prosecutor for Annecy near where the shootings occurred, told The Associated Press in a text message that Zeena had returned to Britain along with two relatives.

The older daughter, Zaina, was shot in the shoulder and took violent blows to the head during the attack. She underwent two operations and had been placed in a medically induced coma. She has come out of the coma but remains on sedatives and cannot yet talk to investigators, Maillaud wrote Sunday.

Depending on what she remembers, the 7-year-old could prove crucial to the investigation.

Alps murder victims each shot twice in the head
Official: Family feud suspected in brutal Alps murders

Meanwhile, French and British police spent a second day searching the couple's U.K. home in Claygate, a suburb of London.

Surrey Police said the force is supplying resources from its major crime team, which works jointly with Sussex Police, as well as forensic officers, search teams and translators. The force said dozens of British officers are assisting with the French-led investigation but that the number fluctuates depending on needs.

Saad and Iqbal al-Hilli and the two other people killed were each shot twice in the head, along with suffering other wounds. Zeena survived unhurt by hiding under her mother's skirt as some 25 automatic-handgun rounds were fired at the family car.

[MagnaCartaUK]

The elder 7 year-old daughter, although now out of her induced coma, will be sedated for several more days, so won't be well enough to be even sensitively questioned - quite understandable too. The elderly lady with a Swedish passport who was murdered, is suspected to be Mr. Al-Hilli's mother-in-law. I'm not quite sure why the Swedish authorities haven't verified this yet. At least the little girl is back on home soil, but it's sad that the passing French cyclist who was shot dead seems to have been almost forgotten about. He himself, was a father of three children, and shouldn't be thought of in some 'secondary sense'. As the Swiss and Italian police have also been asked to assist, it seems the search as widened. If they have as many C.C.T.V. and vehicle surveillance cameras as us, some information of the killers movements and registration plates should provide very useful input towards the investigation. No doubt the meticulous work involved will dictate the rate at which this enquiry can develop and progress. Patience will be the order of the day for a while.

[AnnieDanny]

Bless these two little girls. What an awful ordeal and tragedy.

It does sound as if the family was targeted, as if it was a "hit". I hope police can solve the crime.

[gottasay2u]

From beaten and shot in the head 3 times to violent blows to the head and a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Anyway I hope she recovers OK and is reunited with her sister and other loving family members.

[dragontat2]

For the best emotional health of the girls, they should not be separated. They need each other~ peace & blessings to them both.