Funeral delayed for victims of Jerusalem double-murder

Couple were stabbed to death in their home; police believe the attack was criminal, but details of the incident are still under a media gag order.

By MELANIE LIDMAN
MDA 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
MDA 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The funeral for Noah and Nurit Maoz, parents of four who were brutally stabbed to death in their homes in the Ramot Bet neighborhood of Jerusalem on Saturday night, was delayed until Tuesday so their children could arrive in Israel.
Police believe the attack was criminal, but all of the details of the incident are still under a media gag order. Noah, 64, and Nurit, 60, were discovered by their son, Nir, who went over to his parent’s house with a neighbor and discovered the bodies covered in stab wounds.
Paramedics who responded to the incident described a living room that was covered in blood.
Tragically, neighbors heard the couple yelling for help on Saturday night but did not notify police.
“We heard someone yell, ‘He’s murdering me! He’s murdering me!’” neighbor Zvi Ne’eman told Channel 2.
Ne’eman said he went outside to check what was happening, and asked another neighbor who had also come outside to see if something was amiss, but then it was quiet so they did not call the police, he recalled on Sunday.
Nurit was the deputy director of the trademarks branch of the Justice Ministry, and Noah was the head of a dental clinic in the Malha Mall.
The Ne’emans had seen the couple on Saturday night, prior to the murders, and had discussed a trip abroad over Succot.
Ne’eman said nothing had seemed amiss. Ne’eman’s daughter, who worked with Nurit at the Justice Ministry, called on Sunday morning to say Nurit had not shown up at work. Later, Noah’s dental clinic called his son to report that Noah had also not shown up for work.
The Maoz’s daughter, Tamar, the former captain of the women’s national basketball team, was in Romania for the European championships when she received the news of her parents’ murder.
The Israel Basketball Association said it was “dismayed and shocked” by the news, and that the head of the IBA delegation to the European championships accompanied Tamar back to Israel. The team decided to continue with their scheduled games.
The Maozes are survived by two additional sons, Guy, a physician in New York, and Daniel, Nir’s twin, a software engineer.
The Justice Ministry praised Nurit Maoz, who “created a family atmosphere in her department,” and added that she was well-loved and respected by all of the people who worked with her.
The couple will be buried on Tuesday afternoon in Jerusalem.