Last update - 00:00 22/01/2007
Bodies of 2 men found in Rehovot apt.; 1 of men's wife also found dead
By Rony Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
Two Rehovot residents aged 36 and 63 were found dead in an apartment in the city on Monday.
The two men were identified as Ariel Kaminer and Raphael Ratzabi, and were found in Kaminer's apartment.
Later Monday, police found a woman, aged 35, dead in another apartment in the city. The woman is the wife of one of the men found dead. Police had been searching for her since the afternoon, when they found her husband dead. The woman's body was hanging, with violent marks all over her body.
Detectives have not found a motive yet.
Police found the bodies after receiving a call from a security company, where one of the men worked, saying he had not arrived to work for two days. Police arrived at the apartment, and when no one answered, broke down the door with the help of firefighters.
One the bodies was discovered on the bed, while the other lay on the floor.
Based on the initial investigation, one of the men was bludgeoned to death with a hammer, while the second was shot in the head. Police are looking into the possibility the incident was a murder-suicide.
The connection between the two men is still unknown, but Commander Yifrach Dokovny said police are checking the possibility the two are related. The bodies apparently lay in the apartment for a substantial period of time.
Bat Yam man kills his wife, confesses to murder
A Bat Yam man turned himself in Monday, and confessed to killing his wife.
The man entered the Bat Yam police station at 11.30 A.M. Monday, approached the Desk Sergeant and confessed to him that he killed his wife.
At the same time the husband was at the station, the wife's relatives called the police emergency hotline and said they cannot contact her and they fear for her well-being.
Following the husband's confession, police officers were dispatched to the couple's home on Balfour St. in the city. The officers found the wife lying lifeless in one of the rooms.
The man was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife. Police forensics examined the murder scene, and detectives are trying to establish the motive for the act.
An initial pathologic examination indicates that the woman was strangled to death. The forensic evidence also confirmed the man's testimony that he murdered his wife on Sunday afternoon.
The couple emigrated from Russia a few months ago and they are childless.