Shortly after his wife stepped out to sit in a café, a 38-yearold father of two
brutally struck and shook his infant twins, leading to the death of one and the
serious injury of the other, the Tel Aviv Prosecutor’s Office said in an
indictment issued to the magistrate’s court on Tuesday.
The case made
headlines in January, when “M.” was arrested along with his wife, on suspicion
of abusing the boy and girl. The couple was reported to be a “normative” pair in
their late 30s from Gush Dan, and there has so far been no explanation for why
the event took place.
On Tuesday, the wife’s attorney said that she had
been cleared of charges, and that there was no way to prove that she knew about
or took part in the incident.
According to the indictment, at 4 p.m. on
January 17, 2012, the mother came home from work and went to her room to take a
nap. At around 6 she was awoken by the babies’ crying, and got up to put them
back to asleep, before deciding to leave them with their father while she headed
to a café.
It was only after she returned that she discovered what had
happened.
The indictment reads that while the twins were in his care the
father attacked both of them, grabbing the female twin and squeezing her under
his arm until she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. He then allegedly grabbed his
son and shook him violently before striking him twice in the head, causing him
to lose consciousness.
Not long after, the son was rushed to a hospital,
where he died.
M. stands accused on manslaughter, assaulting a minor and
causing grave bodily harm, and abuse of a minor.
The prosecutor’s office
on Tuesday also issued a request to renew a gag order preventing the publication
of the name of M. or his wife.
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