Last update - 00:00 01/07/2007
Police show video of suspect re-enacting murder of Tair Rada
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent
Police on Sunday screened a video at the trial of the suspected killer of 16-year-old Tair Rada in which he said he wanted to make her "feel pain," but did not mean to kill her.
In the footage presented at the Nazareth District Court, Roman Zadorov is seen re-enacting Rada's murder for police, showing how he allegedly dragged her into a toilet and confronted her with a knife.
In another instance, Zadorov can be heard saying Rada had called him a "son of a bitch," allegedly provoking him into the murder.
Zadorov confessed several days after his arrest, but then recanted, saying had endured intense police pressure to confess. He pleaded not guilty at the opening of his trial.
Tair's mother, Ilana, who was present at the hearing, said she still was not convinced Zadorov is the killer of her daughter.
"I believe he was at the scene of the crime and knows things, but that he didn't kill her," she said.
Channel 10 has reported that hair taken from where the body of Tair Rada was found does not belong to Zadorov.
According to tests carried out by a U.S. laboratory, the hairs' DNA does not match Zadorov's.
The Justice Department refused to comment on the findings but a senior police officer said evidence against Zadorov is firm regardless of the U.S. test results.
"The fact that the prosecution filed an indictment based on substantial evidence that exists implicating Zadorov without waiting for the U.S. lab results show there is sufficient evidence tying him to the murder, and the case isn't based wholly on that issue," he said.
Spiegel said, however, that the test results support other evidence that prove his client's innocence.