MA student indicted for J'lem murder

By DAN IZENBERG
Avi Dar stabbed Zippora Nehamo to death with a nine-centimeter-long commando knife after slashing her in the face and body, according to an indictment filed Friday in Jerusalem District Court by Nick Kaufmann of the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office. The state charged Dar with murder, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment, though most life sentences are later commuted. Dar, 43, an M.A. student at Hebrew University, had rented an apartment from Nehamo on Rehov Meir Feinstein in Jerusalem's East Talpiot neighborhood. According to the indictment, the two got into a dispute over maintenance fees and Dar had hired a lawyer to demand that she pay him back for expenses. Later, Dar decided to move out. On August 18, at 5:30 p.m., Nehamo came to the apartment with an elderly couple who were interested in renting it. When they walked in, Dar locked the door behind them. While the couple looked at the apartment, Dar and Nehamo started quarreling. According to the indictment, Dar took out his knife, grabbed her by the hair, pulled her down to the floor and stabbed her in the shoulder. Nehamo managed to give her key to the couple and told them to call the police. After they left, Dar pushed Nehamo against the wall and started hurling accusations at her while stabbing her in the face and body with the knife. At some point "he made up his mind to kill the victim. He stabbed her in the stomach and chest, thus causing her death," the indictment read. According to the indictment, Nehamo died from severe damage to her lung artery and left lung. Kaufmann asked the court to remand Dar in custody until the end of proceedings because he posed a threat to the public. Several neighbors complained to police about Dar in Jerusalem and in Tivon, where he had lived before. In May 2006, Dar was arrested for severely assaulting a neighbor in Tivon and was sent to the psychiatric hospital in Tira for observation. However, he was released from jail before a psychiatric assessment was given recommending that he be hospitalized.