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Last update - 08:52 23/06/2008 Family of teen murder suspect defends him; classmates saw 'toy criminal' By Roni Singer-Heruti Tags: murder, Ramat Hasharon  "There's no chance he did it," says the uncle of the 17-year-old Ramat Hasharon boy suspected of murdering lawyer Anat Pliner. The suspect, who was 15 at the time of the murder, did not suffer from economic privation, and comes from a normal family, with two siblings and working parents. "Our family has traditional values by which we raise our children. Values of respect for others and for parents," the uncle told Haaretz. "You cannot even imagine how shocked the entire family is. I've known him since he was born, he's a delightful boy and I would stake my life that he did not do anything, and the murderer didn't come from our family. His grandmother couldn't believe it and said, 'Don't tell me that my grandson, who hugs me and looks after me, can come to the mother of children and do something so foolish and despicable.'" Preparatory tests for matriculation exams were held Sunay at the suspect's local high school - the same one attended by Ro'i Horev, who at 17 murdered a Kfar Sava teenager, Assaf Stierman, in 1996. Classmates from the suspect's 11th grade came for the test, but talked of nothing but his arrest. "He's a small-time crook with a big mouth. He came to school nearly every day, but this is a guy who lives in his own reality," one 11th-grader said. "I even got into a fistfight with him once. His friends knew he was breaking into all sorts of places, they talked about it, but still, when we heard on Thursday that he'd been arrested for the murder, everyone here was in shock." Advertisement "He's like this sort of toy criminal, not really a criminal, just someone who makes a lot of noise, as if," another girl who knows the suspect said. "I saw him every day and he seemed totally ordinary, he didn't look like he was hiding something. He would go out partying like the rest of us and it really didn't seem like something was troubling him. After that lawyer was murdered, all of Ramat Hasharon talked about how someone had carried out the perfect murder, and now it's just so scary to think that the one who murdered her is him." Two of the suspect's friends say he was no criminal: "He had the whole gangsta act, but he wasn't really like that. The sort who invents stories and nobody believes him. Once he said about people who train for 20 years to know how to fight, that he, with one stab, can beat someone in a second." Another boy added: "This guy is pure gold, one who values friendship, and respect, and trust." The suspect was arrested twice since the murder, once for stealing a helmet and another time for throwing a stone at a referee during a soccer game. The nature of the offenses did not warrant taking a DNA sample from him. Related articles: Teenager confesses to murder of Ramat Hasharon lawyer Bookmark to del.icio.us   Sarkozy's promise 'France will never compromise Israel's security' Israel's agenda Is an Israeli strike on Iran still on the government's agenda?   1.   FAMILY DEFENDS YOUTH WHO CONFESSED TO MURDERING LAWYER 06:42  |  Mona 23/06/08   2.   Family background does not mean a thing 08:31  |  Aaron 23/06/08   3.   Regardless of the anti-Israeli #1 (Mona), DNA should tell. 10:43  |  S 23/06/08   4.   Petty prejudice Mona #1 10:55  |  Shai 23/06/08   5.   Moaning Mona 11:50  |  Sharon 23/06/08   6.   # 4 shai 13:35  |  Axel 23/06/08   7.   #1 Mona: You are so absolutely right! 20:06  |  Ulf 23/06/08

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