Court reexamines evidence in murder of Tair Rada

3 years after man convicted for murder of eighth-grader, Nazareth Court to re-examine knife cut, bloody footprint.

By BEN HARTMAN
rada murder man 298.88 (photo credit: Channel 2 [file])
rada murder man 298.88
(photo credit: Channel 2 [file])
Almost three years after Roman Zadarov was found guilty in the murder of eighth-grader Tair Rada, the Nazareth District Court on Thursday held a hearing to reexamine evidence in the case following an appeal by Zadarov’s lawyers.
The murder of Rada shocked the country in December 2006 when she was found stabbed to death in a bathroom stall at the Nofei Golan school in Katzrin in the Golan Heights after she had gone missing hours earlier.
Zadarov, the school custodian, was arrested less than a week later and was found guilty of Rada’s murder in September 2010. He was sentenced by the Nazareth court to life imprisonment plus two years for obstruction of justice.
The evidence reexamined included a forensic expert’s opinion about bloody shoe prints found at the scene, and another expert’s analysis of the murder weapon and the injuries to Rada’s head.
An American forensic expert claimed that the bloody footprint on Rada's pants is not a footprint at all, while an Israeli expert claimed the cuts to Rada's face was caused by a toothed knife and not by a Stanley Knife as Zadarov originally said in his confession, Israel Radio reported.
In March, the High Court of Justice said Zadarov’s conviction had been based on confessions he had made to interrogators, a police translator, a jailhouse informant and during a reenactment of the crime, which justices said “were found to contain lies, manipulations and fabrications.”
At the same time, the court said his confessions were backed up by evidence, including facts that Zadarov was able to point out about the crime scene, the positioning of Rada’s body and how she was killed.
Justice Edna Arbel pointed out that the decision was not a ruling that the conviction should be overturned.
Regardless of the decision, the verdict in the case will not be disturbed and Zadarov will keep serving his sentence until there is a court order otherwise.
Also, a court order to reexamine evidence does not suggest the likelihood of any court decision to actually reopen the verdict itself.
JPost.com staff contributed to this report.