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Last update - 04:29 10/09/2008
Missing girl's grandfather recants: I didn't kill Rose
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel, Police, Missing Girl 

Ronny Ron, the grandfather and stepfather of Rose Pizem, recanted his confession on Tuesday, insisting that he didn't kill the 4-year-old girl, who has been missing since May.

"I didn't kill her, the confession was extracted from me under duress. The last time I saw her she was alive," said Ron in his first public comments on the matter.

Ron is also Rose's stepfather, as he is the live-in lover of her mother Marie-Charlotte Renault. He made the remarks at Ramle Magistrate's Court, where police had brought him and Renault to request a remand extension.
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At the start of the hearing, Ron shouted out: "It's all lies and falsehood, it was all was under duress!"

The Israel Police are pouring immense resources into the search for Rose. Ron has confessed several times to killing the girl, stuffing her body into a suitcase, and throwing her into the Yarkon River, after he picked her up from a prolonged stay at his mother's house.

At court Tuesday, he subsequently launched into an attack on investigators: "They tell me that my little girls will turn out to be whores, and to turn to drugs... They bring me pictures of a 10-month old baby, the youngest infant in our home, and tell me if I don't admit to what they want - that is what will happen to them," he exclaimed.

Ron continued: "The last time I saw her, she was in the hands of my mother. I put her there because I though it would help her. I would admit to anything, also the murder of [assassinated Zionist leader] Haim Arlosoroff. I will only not say what they want."

The court later extended Ron's remand by 10 days, and that of Renault by 15 days.

During the hearing, police reported new findings from their investigation into the girl's disappearance. These included evidence supporting their suspicions that Renault was involved in the murder of her daughter.

Major General Eitan Scheinman, a police representative at the hearing, presented to the court the testimony of the babysitter who looked after Rose and her two half-sisters.

She told investigators that on May 12 - the day the 4-year-old was last seen - she stayed unusually late with the other two girls, until 10 or 11 P.M. Ron and Renault then came home, Scheinman quoted her as saying, and behaved strangely. She also said that she noticed the couple doing certain strange things, but these could not be divulged.

The court also heard that Marie wrote notes to Roni saying, "I'm shocked by what happened to Rose. I feel I'm a bad mother." The date these notes were written, however, remains unclear. Renault's lawyer, Attorney Revital Swaid, explained that they were written when she felt her relationship with her daughter, since her arrival from France, left much to be desired.

These recent developments led police to consider an alternative scenario, whereby Marie committed the murder and Ron, who has always stressed his love for her, has been trying to cover up for his lover.

Central District police have asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's permission to continue to hold Ron and Renault in custody. The law does not allow police to extend suspects' remand beyond 30 days, and requires either their indictment or release. Ron and Renault's month in custody will expire this week.

Last week, police said Ron was deliberately concealing
the location of where he disposed of Rose's body, for fear the corpse would disprove his claim that he killed her accidentally.

Related articles:
  • Police: We will do all we can to give Rose a proper burial
  • Police: Grandfather of missing girl hiding info for plea bargain
  • Missing girl's mother allegedly told husband to 'get rid of her'
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