Police release CCTV image of murder victim's final journey
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Police last night issued the last-known images of Laila Rezk, taken an hour before she was battered to death in her own home, in their efforts to hunt her killer.
Mrs Rezk, 51, was attacked at her family home in Kingston Vale, south-west London, on Wednesday evening and died of severe head injuries.
The CCTV images were taken as she travelled on the number 85 bus, which she caught in Putney, and she can be clearly seen standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding a newspaper.
Moments later she stepped from the bus at the Robin Hood roundabout, in Kingston Vale, at about 7.40pm.
Twenty-two-year-old Dina Rezk and her 20-year-old brother Tamer found their mother covered in blood on the floor of her home. Blood was found in the living room and a downstairs bathroom which, police say, suggests she was attacked at least twice.
Mrs Rezk died in hospital on Thursday afternoon.
Her family last night issued a statement as the police stepped up the hunt for the killers.
"No one can understand what we are going through. Laila is irreplaceable.
"She is now safe with God, but the awful person who did this remains free to commit such evil again.
"For this reason, we cannot stress enough how important any information that anyone may have will be for the protection of the British public."
There was no sign of a break-in, and police are looking into the possibility that Mrs Rezk's attacker forced their way in when she was at the front door. Another theory is that she was somehow tricked into opening the door.