Wednesday, November 03, 2021
Police say they cracked 1980s murder linked to Hasidic cult
Police on Wednesday were searching for the remains of a teenage boy who disappeared in the 1980s, saying at a court hearing for suspects in the case that investigators know who killed Nissim Shitrit.
The developments provided confirmation that 17-year-old Shitrit's disappearance was being treated as a murder. The case is tied to Hasidic cult leader Rabbi Eliezer Berland, a convicted sex offender and scammer who has also been arrested in connection with the teenager's death.
The searches for Shitrit's remains were reportedly being carried out around Jerusalem on Wednesday.
At the remand hearing for two suspects in the case, a police representative told the court that investigators know who participated in the abduction of Shitrit and who committed the homicide, apparently on February 2, 1986, three days before the teenager was eventually reported as missing.
One of the suspects was remanded for a further eight days and the other, a woman, was released to house arrest.
At the hearing, police said the male suspect was directly involved in the kidnapping and murder and that there is evidence that implicates him.
The female suspect was jointly interrogated with other suspects in the case to compare their accounts, and she has admitted to acting on behalf of Berland to lure Shitrit to a location, police told the court. The woman also told investigators she had spoken with Shitrit on the day he disappeared.
A number of people have been detained recently over Shitrit's death and the unsolved murder of 41-year-old Avi Edri in the 1990s. A gag order restricts many details of the investigation including naming the suspects, many of whom are said to be in their 60s and 70s.
The suspects are tied to the Shuvu Bonim ultra-Orthodox sect run by Berland.
On Tuesday, Berland, 83, who is already in prison on a fraud conviction, was remanded in custody for nine days to allow his continued interrogation in connection with the decades-old homicide cases.
Judge Elad Lang said of Berland that "there was reasonable suspicion that he committed offenses. He implicated himself and provided a detailed version of events."
During his questioning, Berland came face-to-face with Shitrit's brother, Meir, according to Hebrew media reports.
Meir Shitrit asked the rabbi if he should begin the traditional Jewish mourning rituals, including the week-long shiva and saying Kaddish, a prayer that mourners recite for the deceased. Mourning rituals are not begun until a person's death is confirmed.
Berland reportedly responded, "You can sit shiva and say Kaddish, I am sorry I didn't tell you 35 years ago," the Kan public broadcaster reported.
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