Court overturns acquittal of killer

Yehiye Turk was found not guilty in 1999 murder of child during underworld attack despite confession.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Supreme Court on Monday accepted the state prosecution's appeal against the acquittal of an underworld figure for the 1999 murder of a toddler, and ruled that the Tel Aviv District Court reassess confessions made by Yehiye Turk during the period he was a state's witness, upon which the prosecution heavily relied during the trial. In December 2005, the Tel Aviv District Court had acquitted Turk of the 1999 murder of the three-year-old son of grey market kingpin Asher Iloz during an attempt on Iloz's life due to insufficient evidence. In a murder that sent shock waves through the Israeli underworld, Aviv Iloz, 3, was killed in April 1999 after his father's car exploded in Rishon Lezion. Asher Iloz was hospitalized in serious condition and was arrested a short time later after allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill those responsible for his son's death. According to the original indictment, Turk conspired with two other criminals - Haim Nahman Ben Yishai, aka Bialik, and Avi Galikarov - to murder Iloz. Turk was charged with providing Bialik and Galikarov with the bomb they planted under Iloz's car. Turk at one point turned state's witness and incriminated his two brothers in the murder, but reneged on the deal. Following a three-year trial, Judges Savione Rotlvei, Ofra Charaniyak and Avraham Tal had cleared Turk of the murder charges but found him guilty of manufacturing a weapon and transferring it to others to be used to commit a crime. The judges had dismissed confessions made by Turk during the period he was a state's witness. The prosecution relied heavily on the confessions, but the court ruled that the police had used improper means to obtain them. Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.