Teenage twin sister murder suspects undergoing psychiatric exams

The hearing for David Eran and Shiri Sobol was held almost two weeks after they were both indicted for the murder of Hili Sobol.

By BEN HARTMAN
Police car at crime scene (photo credit: SHLOMI)
Police car at crime scene
(photo credit: SHLOMI)
The teenage suspects in a brutal murder – including the twin sister of the victim - are currently undergoing psychiatric examination to see if they are fit to stand trial, their attorneys said in court in Tel Aviv Wednesday.
The hearing for David Eran and Shiri Sobol was held almost two weeks after they were both indicted for the murder of Hili Sobol, who prosecutors say was stabbed by Eran 130 times while Shiri watched from the doorway of the family apartment in Tel Aviv.
David Eran’s lawyer Sasi Gez said that his client is undergoing psychiatric examination at Abarbanel Hospital in order to see if he is fit to stand trial, while Sobol’s attorney Gil Friedman said he is also awaiting the psychiatric results and added that he believes that she is not linked to the crime whatsoever.
The killing of Hili Sobol was carried out with a remarkable level of brutality, and according to the forensic report, she was stabbed more than 30 times just in the neck.
 
The state believes that the murder was arranged by Shiri after years of a violent and bitter sibling rivalry between the twin sisters. The indictment read that Shiri convinced David Eran – her boyfriend of two years – to carry out the murder because Hili was trying to break up their relationship.
 
The indictment painted him as a young man willing to do anything she asked of him and desperate to keep their relationship intact, while her attorneys are working to dispute any connection between her and the murder, which they hope to link to Eran alone. The indictment says that Eran is the only one who stabbed Hili, who was murdered while Shiri watched and then called police to report that a stranger “probably an Arab” came and stabbed her sister and fled.
 
Both have denied the charges against them as well as the police contention that they confessed.