Murder victim's wife's body found

2 men's bodies found in Rehovot apt.; man turns himself in for unrelated murder.

By JOSHUA BRANNON, JPOST.COM STAFF
police car 298.88 (photo credit: Channel 10)
police car 298.88
(photo credit: Channel 10)
The bodies of two men were found in an apartment in Rehovot on Monday. The two were later identified as Rafael Ratzabi, 35, and Ariel Kaminer, 63. Shfelat Subdistrict Commander Yephrah Dukobani said that police units following up on a missing person's report found the bodies lying in a large pool of blood in one of the rooms near a hammer and pistol. Dukobani said it appeared that one man had been beaten in the head with a hammer, and the second had apparently shot himself. The mystery surrounding the men's deaths intensified Monday evening when police found the body of a 35-year-old woman in another apartment in Rehovot, which turned out to be that of the wife of one of the two men found earlier in the day. Her body was marked with signs of violence, and was found hanging. Police had been searching for her throughout the day, once her husband's body had been found. One of the men, a security guard, was reported missing by his employers after he did not come to work for two days. Police said they were still investigating the relationship between the two men, and the possibility that an additional party had managed to leave the house despite the front door being locked from the inside. On Monday morning, a 36-year-old man arrived at the Bat-Yam Police Station, claiming he had killed his wife Sunday and kept her body at their home overnight. Ayalon subdistrict police units arrived to the apartment and found the woman's body, whom police said was approximately 25 years of age. The couple had made aliya a few months ago and had no children. In a press conference Monday, Chief of Ayalon District Police Aharon Axel, said that "at the same time that the husband turned himself in, a report was filed by the woman's relatives fearing for her safety." He said there was no known past of domestic violence. The man was arrested and police said he will appear for a remand hearing at the Rishon Letzion Magistrates court on Tuesday.