The parents of 13-year-old Tair Rada, who was murdered in the Golan Heights town of Katzrin last December, have petitioned the High Court of Justice to reopen the investigation into their daughter's death.

According to the family, the reconstruction of events given by the prime suspect in the case does not match the evidence in the pathological report.

In the petition, Ilana and Shmuel Rada asked the court to order State Prosecutor Eran Shendar to explain his reluctance to reopen the case despite "the accumulation of evidence in his possession."

	Advertisement

They also expressed fears over a possible scenario in which the prime suspect in the case, Roman Zadorov, would eventually be acquitted and the police would be unable to locate the real culprits because of the length of time that would have passed since the end of the investigation.

Two weeks ago, the defense attorneys representing the Rada family asked Shendar to reopen the investigation into the teenager's death.

Rada's parents recently received a response from the State Prosecution, which said it would be impossible to file an appeal over an investigation that has already been closed, after a decision to file an indictment has been made.

Defense attorneys Moshe and Shira Maroz wrote in their request to the prosecution that it is evident from the investigative report that the account given Zadorov regarding the circumstances of Rada's death does not match the evidence described in the pathological report. Rada was found murdered in the girl's bathroom at the Nofei Golan High School on December 6, 2006.

"There were marks on her body that Roman did not know about," said Shira Maroz, adding that "there is a lack of coordination between the reconstruction to the finding on the body."

According to the lawyers, the family believes that the police have neglected significant points for investigation. They refer, for example, to the blood stains found on the day of the murder in the boy's bathroom one floor below the girl's bathroom where Rada's body was found. Blood was smeared on the walls of the bathroom and on the toilet seat, and pieces of toilet paper were discovered soaked in blood. A laboratory test of the blood revealed that it belonged to two males unknown to police.

Another point neglected by police, according to the family, were the two t-shirts found covered in blood and with a black hair on school property. It is not clear to whom the blood or hair belong. Blood was also found in the bathroom stall next to the one in which Rada's body was found. Neither laboratory results appear in the investigative report.

Neglected evidence
Before Rada's murder, one of her classmates drew a number of pictures of a dead girl, including one in which the girl was seen lying on the floor with her throat slit. The pictures have still not been presented to the police.

During questioning of the same classmate, police found two text messages sent to her cellular phone on the day of the murder, which read: "Hold on, babe. I am not worried. Go out and drink something," and, "In my opinion, the first to be stabbed is them. What about you, sweetie? How are you feeling?"

It was further revealed Sunday, in a memo written by one of the investigating officers, that during the classmate's questioning she received SMS messages imploring her "not to say anything." Police did not check who sent the messages.