Man suspected of killing daughter ordered to undergo psychiatric tests

Assaf Goldring, who allegedly murdered his three-year-old daughter Noa, had his remand extended by 10 days in the Ramle Magistrates Court on Sunday and was ordered to undergo psychiatric tests.

Defense attorney Gadi Zilberschlag, who made the request that his client be sent for psychiatric evaluation, said the murder was an "act of insanity" that could not be understood.

"A psychiatric test must be conducted urgently when there is such a large gap between the act and the suspect himself," Zilberschlag said.

Goldring was brought Sunday morning to court after refusing to cooperate with investigators and maintaining his right to silence.

Earlier Sunday, police officials said that the alleged murder may have been premeditated, and an autopsy was conducted on the girl's body after police received her mother's consent.

Lisa Goldring, who had at first declined to authorize an autopsy on her daughter, changed her mind after consulting with a rabbi and as a result of negotiations with police.

Nissim Mor, commander of police's central district, told Army Radio that police suspects that Assaf Goldring smothered his daughter using plastic saran wrap. Then, the father allegedly attempted to take his own life by ingesting pills.

According to Mor, the police will do everything within its power to find out exactly what happened in the Batzra home in order to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

Assaf's father, David Goldring, told investigators he found his granddaughter's body after calling early Saturday morning and gathering from his son's voice that something was wrong.

The elder Goldring rushed to the house and found his son with his hands covered in blood after a botched suicide attempt.

Knowing that Assaf had taken the girl on Friday, as part of his agreement with his estranged wife, David Goldring rushed into the bedroom, where he found his granddaughter motionless, with strangulation marks on her neck.

He called Magen David Adom, and an ambulance arrived within minutes.

Police investigators found a letter Assaf had written to his estranged wife, in which he said he would hurt their daughter as vengeance for the separation.

In the letter, Assaf said they separated because of Lisa's increasing religious observance, which made her feel alienated from him. He expressed anger toward Lisa and fear that Noa would be taken from him in the divorce, and described the couple's marital problems, police said.

Assaf was taken to Meir Hospital in Kfar Sava, where he was given emergency care and transferred to an internal medicine ward. He apparently attempted suicide a second time, by removing the stitches from his arms, and shouted and threw objects in his room until he was sedated. As of last night, he was in police custody.

While in hospital, Assaf admitted to police that he had strangled his daughter and reconstructed his actions since taking Noa from her mother's home in Jerusalem Friday morning. Authorities believe the murder took place between Friday night and yesterday morning.

David Goldring was a long-time Batzra resident, but recently moved to Ra'anana. He was in the construction materials business for many years, and most of his children, and his wife, still live in Batzra.

"We're in heavy mourning, and we ask to be left alone," said Assaf's father during his son's remand hearing in Jerusalem on Sunday. The court extended Goldring's remand by 10 days.

Shortly before the conclusion of the remand hearing, Noa Goldring was laid to rest in Kiryat Shaul.