A member of the Royal Logistic Corps bomb disposal team walks with a police officer Sept. 10, 2012, close to the Claygate, England, home of Saad al-Hilli, who was shot dead with three others while vacationing in the French Alps. (AP Photo/PA)
(AP) LONDON - A bomb squad was called to the suburban home of a British-Iraqi couple slain in the French Alps but left after a short time as investigators searched the house Monday for clues to their brutal killing.
Bomb disposal experts were called to Claygate, a village 17 miles southwest of London, after what local police described as "concerns around items found at the address." But the squad soon left and the cordon was lifted; Surrey Police, who are coordinating with French investigators, said a statement would be issued shortly.
Investigators on both sides of the English Channel have spent nearly a week trying to trace the perpetrators of a shooting rampage that killed Saad al-Hilli, his wife Iqbal, a woman believed to be his mother-in-law and a French cyclist.
The couple's daughters, 4-year-old Zeena and 7-year-old Zaina, survived the shooting.
The extreme violence used in the slayings — the adult victims were each shot twice in the head with automatic handgun rounds, among other injuries — has led to fevered speculation about the motive behind the crime.
Authorities are probing whether an alleged financial dispute between Saad al-Hilli and his brother Zaid played a role. Friends have described tensions between the two over their late father's assets, but Zaid has denied any conflict.
