Last update - 00:00 06/09/2007
Jerusalem man charged with murder escapes from mental hospital
By Fadi Eyadat, Haaretz Correspondent
A man charged with murder and committed to a psychiatric hospital escaped from his doctors on Thursday while being escorted to a discussion of his case at a Haifa court.
46-year-old Jerusalem resident Eliyahu Fahima was charged with the murder of a yeshiva student in 2002, but was later found unfit to stand trial. He has been hospitalized under court order and the "Sha'ar Menashe" psychiatric facility near Hadera.
A medical team escorted Fahima to a courthouse in Haifa Thursday morning, where a judge was to rule on whether Fahima would be granted leave from the hospital in order to pay off a debt from his past.
After the discussion, Fahima managed to escape from his doctors.
Police forces launched large-scale searches for the escaped prisoner in Haifa, Hadera and Jerusalem. The police reported that the man was being treated with psychiatric drugs and could be violent and dangerous.