Man sentenced to life in prison for murder, throwing woman out hotel window

Congolese citizen and friend of unnamed Maccabi Netanya FC player committed the murder in March 2013.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Updated: JANUARY 1, 2016 03:55
Crime scene (illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Crime scene (illustrative)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
The Lod District Court on Thursday sentenced Eritsia Akalsongo, a Congolese man and friend of a foreign Maccabi Netanya Football Club player, to life in prison for the murder of 20-year-old Zehava Chikol, whose half-naked body was thrown from the 8th floor of Netanya’s Carmel Hotel on March 26, 2013.
The court, which convicted Akalsongo in September, also slapped him with a compensatory fine of nearly NIS 500,000 for the suffering of various family members of Chikol.
Initially, the professional soccer player, known only as A.A. due to a gag order, was also a suspect. Though he was arrested, he was never indicted and was eventually cleared of suspicion.
Prior to March 2013, Akalsongo asked A.A. if he could stay with him in his room at the Netanya hotel because he was homeless.
During that period, Chikol and Akalsongo had various interactions, and Akalsongo owed Chikol NIS 200.
On March 26, Chikol confronted Akalsongo about his debt. When Akalsongo attempted to evade paying, Chikol threatened that if he did not pay her, she would open a window and scream he had raped her. In response, Akalsongo strangled her to death and then threw her body out of the room’s window.
The state obtained court permission to take A.A.’s testimony prior to trial, as A.A.
planned to leave the country at the end of his contract with Maccabi Netanya in May 2013.


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