Ron and Pizem paid no attention to Rose, says girl's nanny

Trial in murder of four-year-old found in Yarkon enters testimony stage.

By DAN IZENBERG
marie pizem ronnie ron 248.88 (photo credit: Channel 10)
marie pizem ronnie ron 248.88
(photo credit: Channel 10)
Testimony in the murder trial of Ronnie Ron and Marie-Charlotte Pizem opened on Sunday in Tel Aviv District Court, with witnesses for the prosecution taking the stand one after the other. Ron and Pizem are charged with the murder of Pizem's daughter and Ron's granddaughter, four-year-old Rose Pizem, whose body was found in Tel Aviv's Yarkon River on September 11, 2008. Prosecution witness Lior Maslawi, one of Ron's co-workers, told the court that Ron had always spoken proudly about Rose. "I don't know what got into his head," he told the court. During the investigation of Rose's death, Maslawi told police that Marie-Charlotte had called him for help, saying she told him, "If the police don't see a girl, [Ron] will go to jail for years." "I asked her, 'Where's Rose?' She replied, 'It doesn't matter. Bring a girl from one of your neighbors. It doesn't matter who. Just bring someone.'" Another witness who worked with Ron in the Tel Aviv Municipality said Ron once told him that "if you want to make something disappear, all you have to do is throw it into the Yarkon." Later, a woman who had been Rose's nanny testified that she had once seen Rose with a large bruise on her face. She said she asked Ron what had happened and he told her the girl had fallen at the playground. The nanny also said Ron had looked after his own two girls [whom he had with Marie-Charlotte Pizem] very nicely, but ignored Rose. "He was amazing with them," she said, "but he didn't give any special attention to Rose. Marie didn't look after any of them." She also said that while Ron and Pizem's older daughter had a bedroom of her own, Rose slept with the baby. The baby had a bed, a changing table and toys, while Rose slept in something that looked like a sleeping bag and had no possessions. After the hearing, Pizem's lawyer, Revital Swid, told reporters that none of the witnesses had linked her client to Rose's death. In order to prove the murder charge, the prosecution will also have to show beyond a reasonable doubt that Ron intentionally killed Rose. He has admitted that he caused her death by striking her, but said he had not meant to kill her.