Cigarette butt discovery leads to murder indictment

5 competitors of Daliat al-Carmel kiosk owner allegedly hire 4 hitmen to kill him over plans to open currency-exchange.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
cigarette butts 88 (photo credit: )
cigarette butts 88
(photo credit: )
Four men in Daliat al-Carmel were charged Tuesday in the Haifa District Court with the attempted murder of a kiosk owner after a cigarette butt led to their arrest, police said Tuesday. According to police, the men in custody were hired as agents and hitmen by five of the kiosk owner's business competitors who plotted to kill him because of his plans to open a currency-exchange business in the neighborhood. On January 22, the two hitmen arrived at the town's kiosk, shot the owner and fled. The kiosk owner was critically wounded and brought to Rambam Hospital in Haifa. Police gathered evidence from the scene, including the cigarette stub. DNA testing of the cigarette butt led to the arrest of Riyadh El-Masri, a 22-year-old Taibe resident with a criminal background, and three other Taibe residents suspected of acting as the agents who provided the assassins and gunmen. The five business competitors were arrested Monday. The four agents and hitmen were released to house arrest following their interrogation and charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit a crime.