By JPOST.COM STAFF
Marie Pizem, the mother accused of the murder of her four-year-old daughter Rose in September 2008, took the witness stand at the Petah Tikva District Court on Wednesday, saying, "Stop saying that I hated her. I didn't hate Rose."
She told the court that she found it difficult to care for her daughter, from whom she had been estranged for years, because the child was "hysterical" and prone to "making a mess."
In her earlier testimonies, Pizem had described a life of abuse beginning with her mother and continuing with her first husband, Ben, and her second husband Ronnie Ron - Ben's father, Rose's grandfather and the chief suspect in the case.
Pizem is due to continue her testimony next week.
The state has failed to connect Pizem to the actual killing of her daughter, whose body was found in a suitcase in the Yarkon River a month after her death, but maintains that she encouraged Ron to kill Rose and that she knew about the murder and did not inform the police.
Files found on Pizem's computer showed that she and Ron may have been planning to immigrate to the US following Rose's death.
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