A 67-year-old woman, Haviva Washadi, was found dead Tuesday evening in an apartment in the Kiryat Menachem neighborhood of Jerusalem. Police say they suspect she was murdered by the 80-year-old man she had been caring for.
The suspect, who has already served a prison sentence for murder, was arrested at the scene and taken in for questioning. Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.
Neighbors described the man as “quiet and eccentric.” One told Kan: “I saw police at the entrance to the building and asked what they were looking for. They said they were searching for a missing woman but didn’t know if he was at home. I went up, knocked on his door, and he opened it. He said they were looking for his caregiver but didn’t say he had done anything.”
Washdi had been missing since Monday morning. According to police, she was last seen around 8:20 a.m. in Kiryat Menachem, where she was later discovered dead inside the suspect’s home. Police sources claimed she had been killed by multiple stab wounds. The murderer had gone so far as to hide the body in a bathtub and clean up the bloodstains.
The Israel Dog Unit, a nonprofit organization specializing in working dogs, joined the search when Haviva was reported missing on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. The IDU stated that the search was carried out with large emergency forces and through the holiday of Rosh Hashanah due to concern that the victim was in mortal danger.
This is not the first time the man has been implicated in a murder case. In 1980, he was convicted of killing three people after sending a booby-trapped package containing hand grenades to his mother-in-law in Givatayim. At the time, his wife had sought a divorce, and investigators said he targeted her mother in revenge. When the mother-in-law hesitated to open the parcel, two postal employees persuaded her to do so. The device exploded inside the post office, killing all three.
Police initially detained the suspect for questioning on Tuesday morning, but the body was only discovered later in the day after further searches of his apartment. The 80-year-old suspect remains in custody as police continue their investigation.
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