Racist note left next to murder victim's body
A note was left next to the body of an Iraqi woman reading, "Go back to your own country. You're a terrorist", after she was bashed to death.
Shaima Al Awadhi, 32, was found lying in a pool of blood in her family California home after being repeatedly hit in the head with a tyre iron.
Her 17-year-old daughter, Fatima, has told a US television station that the killer left the note next to her mother's body.
California police have confirmed that a note was found near the mother-of-five’s body but have not released details of its contents.
Ms Al Awadhi's family reportedly told police that they had received a similar note earlier in the month but had dismissed it as a childish prank.
Hanif Mohebi, the director of the San Diego chapter of the American-Islamic Relations, expressed concern about reports Ms Al Awadhi was the victim of a hate crime.
"Obviously our community is worried about this, but we want to make sure we get all the facts before we do anything," he said.
Local police lieutenant Mark Coit says investigators believe the incident is an isolated event, but are exploring all aspects of the investigation.
"A hate crime is one of the possibilities, and we will be looking at that, … but we don’t want to focus on only one issue and miss something else," he said.
Ms Al Awadhi migrated to the US with her husband in 1993 and had only recently moved to California from Michigan, local reports say.
Police are continuing their investigation.
