By Tsahar Rotem and David Ratner, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
The widow of a Tel Aviv District Court judge, Adi Azar, criticized the media on Sunday for having spread false rumors that her husband was murdered in July for personal reasons. She was speaking a few hours after police revealed that a prison inmate is suspected of hiring an escaped convicted killer to murder Azar, apparently in an attempt to shock the judicial system.
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After police learned that the only cases Azar had tried were civil complaints involving businesses and large sums of money, they questioned their initial assumption that underworld forces had sought either to punish him for a sentence he had handed out or to prevent him from handing one down in the future.
As a result, police were trying to be open-minded about the motive, and were looking closely at Azar's personal life for clues of strife. Some Israeli media outlets reported suspicions that Azar was murdered in connection with personal issues.
"We were compelled to cope not just with the difficult loss, but also with the rumor mill," said Bilhat Azar at a press conference in Tel Aviv. "Adi was killed because he was a judge, and only because he was a judge."
Police revealed Sunday morning that prison inmate Yitzhak Zuziashvili, who is currently serving a murder sentence, is suspected of hiring escaped convicted killer Rafi Nahmani to murder Tel Aviv District Court Registrar Adi Azar in July of this year.
Nahmani, 35, and Zuziashvili, 34, were both serving life sentences for separate murders they committed in Haifa.
Shortly before 7 P.M. on July 19, as Azar arrived by car to his Ramat Hasharon home following work, a gunman believed to be Nahmani fired three bullets - two to the chest and one to the head - at the 49-year-old judge.
Nahmani immediately escaped from the crime scene. Shortly after 7 P.M., Magen David Adom paramedics pronounced Azar dead.
Police believe Zuziashvili developed his plan to murder Azar from his prison cell and contacted Nahmani, who escaped from prison in April 2004, to carry out the murder. Nahmani was recaptured by police three weeks ago.
Zuziashvili is believed to have wanted to shock the judicial system, which he believed was not acting to his benefit. He then intended to present himself as someone able to help police solve the murder, thus securing a plea bargain via which he would be released from prison.
Police have detained three other suspects connected to the case and are also in possession of the handgun used in the murder of Azar. One of the suspects, Avinoam Hajbi, 44, of Netanya, struck a deal to act as a state witness. Hajbi acted as the killer's driver and assistant. The other two suspects are Moshe Arjawan and Meir Malul, both of Ramle, who are believed to have helped Nahmani with logistical arrangements prior to the murder.
The police investigation revealed Zuziashvili and Nahmani considered killing a police officer or prison warden but eventually decided to murder a judge. They began following a number of judges in an effort to determine who was most vulnerable. They considered eight judges before settling on Azar.
Hajbi drove Nahmani to the scene of the murder and waited in the car while Nahmani hid in the bushes outside Azar's home. The two then fled to Michmoret where they hid the murder weapon in the sand dunes. They later transferred the handgun to Palmahim beach.
After the murder, police investigators found a letter from Zuziashvili beneath the driver's seat of Azar's car in which he asked for a retrial. The turning point in the investigation came when Zuziashvili sent another letter to a figure in the judicial system offering to lead police to the murder weapon in exchange for a retrial.
Wiretappings and other surveillance revealed that Nahmani committed the murder and Zuziashvili and other suspects were subsequently arrested.
Police see the Azar murder as one of the most serious crimes in Israel's history. Azar was the first judge in Israel's history to be murdered.
Azar is survived by a 22-year-old daughter from his first marriage, and two sons, aged 15 and 8, from his second wife, Bila.
"I am shocked to the depths of my soul," Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said after the murder. "This is the first murder of a judge in the history of the country, and this must provide us with food for thought as to where Israel's society is headed." Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed "deep shock" at the killing.
Azar was an acting judge set for a permanent appointment, and also served as registrar, a job that includes deciding which judge should be assigned to each case.
Some eyewitnesses to the crime told police that the assailant appeared to be dressed as a security guard, but no one reported hearing any shots, which may indicate the use of a silenced gun.
Tel Aviv police chief Yossi Sedbon, at the crime scene, said: "We cannot remember something as grave as this."
Officials to discuss court security Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, Justice Minister Yosef Lapid and Israel Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi will meet Sunday to discuss personal security arrangements for judges. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, court director Justice Boaz Okon and court security director Eyal Raheli will also participate in the meeting.
Up until this point, personal security for judges was provided within the confines of court facilities. Judges that received specific threats were also provided with personal security outside the court.
The Supreme Court president has a permanent security detail provided by the Shin Bet's personal protection unit.
The court security unit recently proposed the creation of a sub-unit whose sole purpose would be the personal protection of judges. Judges are currently protected by police officers when the need arises
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