French authorities say the vicious killing of an elderly Jewish woman in Paris is being investigated as an anti-Semitic murder.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday two suspects have been put in custody, including the victim’s Muslim neighbor. It said it is asking investigating judges to charge the pair with premeditated murder of a vulnerable person for anti-Semitic motives.

The office also asked for the suspects to be jailed pending trial.

Leading Jewish group CRIF said the 85-year-old woman was slain last week in Paris’ eastern 11th district. She was identified as Mireille Knoll, and was a Holocaust survivor who had reportedly escaped a round-up of Jews in Paris during World War II.

CRIF asked for “utmost transparency in the ongoing investigation so that the reasons for this barbaric crime are known to everyone as soon as possible.”

(YWN / AP)