By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFF
A 76-year-old man allegedly bludgeoned his 70-year-old wife to death with a hammer while she slept following an argument over NIS 2,000 early Wednesday in Rehovot.
The suspect, Menachem Kochavi, apparently became furious after his wife, Hadassah, refused to give him the money for a carer to see to his needs, and slammed a hammer into his wife's head several times while she lay in bed, police said.
He then left the bedroom and re-entered a few minutes later, delivering more blows to "ensure she was dead," police added.
Kochavi then went to sleep, waking up at approximately 6 a.m., when he called his son to announce what he had done. "I murdered mom," Kochavi told his dumbstruck son.
The son contacted police who found Kochavi sitting silently in his home. They burst into the bedroom to discover Hadassah lying in a blood-soaked bed.
Kochavi reenacted the attack for officers, telling them that he wanted to "get rid of his wife" for some time after relations between them turned sour.
Following a psychiatric evaluation conducted Wednesday evening, the Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court found Kochavi mentally fit to stand trial and extended his remand by five days.
The court ruled Kochavi would also undergo a medical evaluation to determine whether he could be held in custody despite his physical condition. He was led out of court by police earlier Wednesday with oxygen tubes attached to his nose.
A close friend of the family said he was shocked by the incident, saying that the suspect was "an amazing grandfather" and that the Kochavi family "had always seemed idyllic."
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