Murder-suicide suspected in Petah Tikva: Bodies of man and woman found

The bodies of a man aged 62 and a woman aged 57 were discovered in a Petah Tikva apartment on Friday evening by the woman’s son. Emergency teams called to the scene determined the death of the couple and police began an official investigation, suspecting murder and suicide, Maariv reported on Friday evening.

A neighbor reported that the son, after seeing the bodies of his mother and the man, screamed “he drank and murdered her.” The woman was described by another neighbor as a charming woman who recently lost her husband because of an illness. She allegedly had recently begun dating again.  

Police found a gun which belonged to the man, who worked as a security guard. Carrying a gun permit, it is suspected he shot the woman and then took his own life. It was the son of the slain woman who called police.

In October, it was reported that Eliran Malul allegedly stabbed his wife, Michal Sela, and attempted to take his own life in Motza near Jerusalem in a similar incident. He attempted to give over their infant daughter to a neighbor before he fainted. Malul is currently being investigated by police for the alleged murder. 

In August, Victor Katan, a 74-year-old man who had a valid gun permit, was indicted for the murder of Ofir Hisdai in a Ramle parking lot. The two men argued over parking and Hisdai’s wife described to police how Katan shot her husband twice, despite Hisdai shouting at him, “are you crazy? Why are you shooting me?” Footage taken at the scene depicts Katan and his wife visibly shaken with the woman sobbing and claiming that the shooting happened over her as Katan thought he needed to defend her from the younger man. It was Katan’s wife who was driving the car when the argument broke out.