7 years on, police make arrests in Bnei Brak murder

After seven years in which the trail lay cold, police in November arrested a chief suspect in the 2005 beating death of a Bnei Brak teen, the courts cleared for publication on Sunday.

According to Tel Aviv Police, the case involved an ongoing feud over a motorcycle waged between the murder victim, then- 17-year-old Shlomi Noi of Bnei Brak and then-25- year-old Amit Tavil of Givat Shmuel. Police said that prior to the murder, the two had come to blows over ownership of the motorcycle, and during the fight Noi stabbed Tavil.

After the stabbing, relatives of the two held a sulha (arbitration) between the two sides, overseen by affiliates of the Alperon crime family, in an attempt to reach a peaceful resolution to the feud – most likely with Noi being required to pay compensation for the stabbing.

Instead, the sulha failed, and shortly thereafter on the night of December 9, 2005, Tavil found Noi and beat him with a blunt object, leaving him for dead on the street.

Tavil was arrested in mid- November, police said Sunday, after one of the suspected accomplices gave incriminating testimony to police about that night seven years ago.

Tel Aviv Police said that an additional three people have been arrested as suspected accomplices to the killing.

Last Thursday, police brought the defendants to the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, where they extended their remands until Sunday – at which point their remands were extended again, to give police time to work on the indictments. Tavil’s remand was extended a further four days. The remand of another defendant, Idan Tuito, was extended three more days, while two other defendants – David Tal and Alex Kotler – were released on house arrest.

Police said they are still searching for a fifth suspect, 23-year-old Mark Korovov of Rishon Lezion, who they believe is linked to the murder.