Police suspect man strangled his ex-wife for refusing to return home

Pinhas Baruch, suspected of having murdered his ex-wife Ziva last week near the Anatot settlement, confessed on Monday to committing the murder and described the events to the police.

Baruch's remand was extended by seven days on Sunday.

The body of the 59-year-old Ziva was found last week in a car used by the couple. The affair broke when Baruch summoned one of his friends and the Magen David Adom emergency medical service to the car, telling them his ex-wife had lost consciousness during the drive. The friend and the emergency medical staff attempted to resuscitate her but ultimately pronounced her dead.

During the resuscitation attempts, suspicious strangulation marks were spotted on the woman's neck. Her body was taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, where it was revealed that the victim had been strangled to death.

When police officers arrived at the scene of the alleged murder, Baruch said he wasn't feeling well and was taken to hospital for medical treatment. On Monday he was released from the hospital and taken into police custody for questioning. Initially he refused to talk about the incident, claiming he could not remember any details.

The police investigation revealed that the couple, who have two children, were married for over 30 years, and divorced last year. Pinhas, 69, stayed at their home in Anatot, while Ziva moved to the nearby Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood in Jerusalem. Police sources said that since the divorce, Baruch has made "many obsessive attempts" to win back his ex-wife and restore their home life to what it was. According to these sources, he tried to convince her himself several times, and sent relatives to try to convince her to return home.

One day before the alleged murder, the two met once more and traveled together in the family car. The police suspect that after Ziva once more rejected Pinhas's pleas, he strangled her.