By JPOST.COM STAFF
Ronnie Ron, the chief suspect in the murder of four-year-old Rose Pizem, continued giving testimony in the Petah Tikva District Court on Tuesday. Rose's body was found stuffed into a suitcase in the Yarkon River in November 2008.
On Tuesday, Ron told the court that his partner Marie Pizem, Rose's mother, was not aware of what had happened to her daughter until a few days before he was arrested. On Monday, Ron told the court that he had given Rose "one slap too many," explaining that he had hit the girl because she was "going wild" in his car.
Ron had also said that immediately after hitting her, he thought Rose was still alive but was curled up quietly in the back seat. It was only later that he noticed she was dead, the murder suspect claimed.
When taking the stand for his Tuesday testimony, Ron said he had told Pizem that Rose had gone to a French school, and that he had "fooled" Marie when she asked to visit her daughter there. During the testimony, he also admitted to hitting Pizem on at least one occasion.
"A few days before the arrest, I told Marie that there had been an accident with Rose, and she fainted in the kitchen," Ron told the court, adding that after hearing the news, Pizem had locked herself in the bathroom for several hours.
He said that his partner was "the best mother in the world."
On Monday, the court decided not to drop charges against Pizem for the murder of her daughter, and that the proceedings against her, and against Ron, would continue unchanged.
Abe Selig contributed to this report
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