• Published 00:00 06.09.07
  • Latest update 00:00 06.09.07

Jerusalem man charged with murder escapes from mental hospital

Eliyahu Fahima, 46, was charged with murdering a yeshiva student in 2002 but found unfit to stand trial.

By Fadi Eyadat

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.

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