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A 7-year-old British girl whose parents and grandmother were murdered in a shooting spree during a family vacation in the French Alps last week spoke to investigators on Monday.
Zainab al-Hilli was shot and severely beaten during the attack and placed in a medically-induced coma.
Zainab, who awoke from the coma on Sunday, was visited by French police in what was characterized as an introduction and a chance for the girl to grow accustomed to investigators, and so that they may gradually earn her trust.
7-year-old girl in French Alps shooting awakes from coma
“They have been able to speak to her but this was just an initial meeting,” a source close to the investigation told ITV News. “They could not go into any detail and the child was very tired. It was not permitted for the discussion to go any further.”
Zeena, Zainab’s 4-year-old sister, also survived the shootings and returned to Britain on Sunday. She was found eight hours after authorities arrived on the crime scene, hiding beneath her deceased mother's skirt in the car.
Read more about the French Alps killings on ITV News
It was unclear if the girls have been told that their British-Iraqi father Saad al-Hilli, mother Iqbal and grandmother were killed in the attack.
Hilli, a mechanical engineer who worked with Surrey Satellite Technology, a subsidiary of the aerospace and defense firm EADS, and the other victims were shot in what appeared to be execution-style killings.
Family feud behind massacre in French Alps?
Also killed was French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, a 45-year-old father of three who authorities suspect was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he came upon the murder.
At the al-Hilli’s $1.6 million home in Surrey, a suburb southwest of London, police searched for clues to solve the mysterious slayings and at one point called in a bomb squad disposal vehicle as a precaution.
A safe inside the al-Hilli residence was being forcibly opened with power tools on Monday, ITV News reported.
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Investigators at scene have revealed that four of the shooting victims were each shot twice in the head with the same gun, a 7.65 self-loading automatic pistol with 10 bullets in it. However, since about 25 shells were recovered from the scene and the bodies of the victims it was suggested that whoever did the killing must have reloaded at least twice, ITV News reported.
Still, five days since a British cyclist came across the chilling murder scene, a motive and suspect continue to elude police.
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Investigators have said they were looking at various theories, including robbery, a family feud, a possible link to Hilli's work in the aerospace industry or his Iraqi origins.
ITV News is the UK partner of NBC News.
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Since the seven year old presumably speaks only English I hope we can assume that the French police were trying to question her in English by a native ENGLISH speaker from England. Just a crazy idea on my part. It takes a special kind of guy to try to smash in the head of a seven year old girl and then shoot her. Let's hope that they get the SOB who did this. Clearly, a paid job and notice that there is no mention of naything being stolen from these people. So a simple robbery is out.
It will be a French police woman or women with an interpreter and a social worker in little Zainab's hospital room. She will be shown photos of the (murder)place with the BMW to refresh her memory and shown different photos of people (murderer). All will be videotaped. Only one gun was used in the grissly murders a 7/65mm automatic pistol. (ballistics confirmed). CCTV tapes from around Annecy city are being looked at. The family stayed in 2 RV camps- the other's name is ;Village Camping Europe; where people noticed the father in 'secret meetings; days before the murders (France 24 in English/Le Parisien in French) Daily Mail (UK) a bomb squad called to their Claygate Surrey Home-in sheds 'suspicious material'-neighbors were evacuated- after 2 hrs no hazardous material -neighbors back. There is a picture of Zaid Al-Hilli and videos of Royal Bomb Corps etc. In Zainab's case- the interviewer (no q and a) will try to get Zainab responding- it should be an English police woman (not French+interpreter)since 2 languages heard by someone who was in medically induced coma and has skull fracture will have unintended complications.Wishing little Zainab well-speedy recovery- but if they tell her (outsiders)parents dead and not even her little sister Zeena by her side to lessen that impact- she will forever have scars (mental).
The childs family is from Iraq and then moved to England where they gained citizenship so the child could speak several languages.
The BBC has a lot more information, like after the initial crime scene the investigators covered the scene in crime tape, roped it off and it wasn't until they spoke to other campers from the camp ground they realized there were actually two daughters not one ......the police went back 8 hours later and found the other daughter ( 4 years old) hiding in the car under her mothers skirt. The police missed seeing her the first time. I can't imagine the anguish this child must have felt sitting under her deceased mothers skirt for eight hours.
As do most people in this world - besides Americans.
@ sam adams. Feel free to leave anytime you'd like. Sooner the better.
LOL. AK, you criticize someone who simply tells the truth. Did sam hurt your feelings? You can step down from your pedestal now.
I agree, most people leaving their country of origin do so to make a better life for their children. There is no crime in wanting a better, safer life with more freedoms for your family. That has been the history of our ancestors and those in other Western countries - we are all the children of those seeking a better life.
Funny how you guys leave out the fact that people in other countries speak multiple languages because there are frequently people from neighboring countries (tourists, people passing through, etc.) coming in they want to communicate with. Why is that? Because other countries are much smaller than the US and a person could travel through several while the same distance wouldn't get you beyond our borders. Not to mention that English is spoken in many foreign countries due to English speaking tourists.
So why don't we speak several languages? Because most of us will never leave the US considering most US citizens don't stray far from their hometowns.
Each killed with a double-tap to the head. This was a pro job. They have their jobs cut out for them. The elder girl is in hospital but is accompanied by someone from the British Embassy, a social worker from the UK and a family member (I think). A true crime story.
I agree..two to the head on all of them..that's a pro hit...this wasn't a simple robbery or a family problem.
an ex-pro, because he left witnesses. that looks bad on the resume ......
The 7.65 mm is common to the Walther PPK or .30 caliber Luger. Interesting choice of weapon.
The only question is; if this were so professional, why the sloppy treatment of the 7 year-old?
I hope both girls have close family and don't have any lasting phisical or psychological issues because of this...though, who wouldn't.
Awful thought, but maybe the beating of the 7-year-old was done first, in an attempt to get the adults to produce whatever money or information was being sought?
Military Man-1740371
"The 7.65 mm is common to the Walther PPK or .30 caliber Luger. Interesting choice of weapon."
There are several handguns in caliber 7.65mm (.32ACP) but the .30 cal. Luger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30_Luger is an obsolete cartridge and probably not the murder weapon, as I`m sure if it was it would have been specified as such purely because of it`s relative obscurity.
I`m currently not aware of a 7.65mm pistol with a 10 round magazine capacity...perhaps the Spanish Astra series?
Sounds a lot like an assassination.
Extortion$$$.
I hope they have very heavy police guard for these two little girls.
YES!! I pray for them.
I feel so sorry for these poor surviving children, and I am so sad for the death of their parents. But I think the West, in general, has made a mistake in admitting so many middle easterners to our countries. They seem to be bringing a lot of violence. Don't forget the cyclist who was also murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time -- he was out for exercise, and now a wife and three children grieve their loss.
@ disgusting taxpayer
So, because they're middle eastern.. and he chose to get an education and get his kids an education and come work for the defense industry of the country that admitted him, thereby making positive use of his well gained education to better the host country.. it's his fault that his family and such are dead except for two orphaned children?
And foremost to you, their death translates to an undesirable tick in violence statistical data for you, and you would've preferred they just stay in Iraq, not elevate themselves and not become contributing members of society so you can keep your white, peaceful society which, had he not been Iraqi in this same situation, would have not triggered much ado from you?
Just wow.
right - because white people didnt engage in any violence before those pesky middle easterners showed up
SAID NO ONE NON-WHITE EVER
*epic face palm
laughing at the thought of mid easterners bringing violence to our shores. Tell that to the native americans.
Very likely this could be a Russian gun and possibly military. Check out the cyclist from Britain that found the site. Were they on a busy road or a solitary road? Busy highway, then question the cyclist again. How did the killer escape...car? by foot? or by bicycle? I'd be more concerned as to where the escape route took the perpetrator. Solitary road - how did the killer know they would be there? Suggests a meeting arranged or being followed which would suggest car. Family member would know how many children were there and would kill all the children and not leave a witness. One site said 15 bullets now its 25 bullets? - Pros don't need to use 25 bullets. Suggests shooter ran out of ammo. Child might have tried to run from the car and shot once and then beaten when ammo ran out. Sad, sad situation but still very intriguing. A lot of questions that lack proper information.
My God - how awful - those poor kids - what a horrible thing to have to endure!
I find it odd that the father worked for a defense contractor - and that they "executed" them - it sounds like something that would come out of a Cold War novel. I wonder what he was working on....
Mossad
Way too sloppy for them
Honor Killing?
The seven year old speaks some Arabic and English. No French. You do not learn langauges by osmosis. It is a long and complicated process. No robbery motif. Nothing stolen. Who knew where the family was going to be vacationing below le lac d'Annecy except the brother. It had to be a (sloppy) professional hit by someone hired by the brother. Also, with everyone killed including the children the surviving brother would probably become the new heir. I hope they get that SOB.
By osmosis? I think you meant diffusion. Osmosis is the special case of diffusion of water, generally because the movement of all other particles is restricted. /sciencelesson
Good point regardless. :) There is a persistent myth that one learns language by simply having it droning in the background. There was an example of a man who spoke "Klingon" to his infant/toddler. He seemed disappointed that the child didn't learn any Klingon, even though there was no interaction, no attempt to teach, to assign symbols or gestures to the sounds.
A further point I'd like to make - this talk of "professional" killing stems from too many adolescent fantasies, too much time spent playing video games and watching video. In the real world beating and shooting helpless women and children (and cyclists) is the work of mentally unstable individuals whose "professionalism" or "tradecraft" would be lacking. I'm not saying that there aren't professional killers, i.e. people paid to kill, but the better they are, the more merciful they are. A bomb in the car for a quick death, no children forced to watch. You cannot be good at being bad, and anyone who thinks otherwise completely misunderstands the nature of evil.
I wonder why only this little girl was beaten and others just shot. This poor child the whole world is praying for you.
This sound like something from a movie ......certainly a professional hit. I am sure it had something to do with the father's work....some stolen defense technology perhaps. Sad for the kids....very sad.
Hopefully she is able to help solve this tragic event and lead police to the murderers....and keep her in safe custody with her sister until then and provide them with new identities and lives whether they are caught or not.
Hopefully investigators will eventually find solid information regarding this brutal crime. I was wondering if the seven-year-old was intentionally shot or happened to be hit. Her beating was probably meant to silence her. It sounds like the younger girl probably was hidden by her mother once the shootings started. Hopefully both girls will recover from this horrible crime - physically and emotionally. This will surely haunt them the rest of their lives, very sad. Early reports stated there had been a family problem involving an inheritance. How can authorities give custody of these girls to any family member until a full investigation is completed? Now it seems other theories are thought to be the reason for this crime - hopefully all will be investigated and the truth known. How sad that this bystander happened to ride by during this horrible crime - talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
May God be with the survivors until the murderer is found. Amen.
Dear English only single language Americans,
What do you plan to do when todo el mundo habla sólo español?
Try that one on.
Well, Spanish-only worldwide isn't all that likely, is it?
The second language of choice for most of the non-English-speaking world is ... English. It's still by-and-large the language of international business.
Terrible all around. It makes me so sad. I hope they figure out what happened here. I hope those kids have family/friends that can love and care for them and help them heal.