State indicts 3 for murder of rabbi's wife in Ashkelon
Prosecution files murder, robbery charges against three men in death of 62-year old Ziona Samin. Three tied to murder by DNA evidence
The charges, filed with Beersheba District Court on Thursday, also included counts of robbery with aggravated circumstances.
According to the indictment, the three planned to rob the 62 year-old woman's house, as Pardain and Kigelman were supposed to commit the act while Rabaiev stood guard outside.
According to the indictment, Pardain and Kigelman cuffed the woman, knocked her down, dragged her across to the living room, and proceeded to search the house for valuables.
After finding NIS 20 ($6) and some jewelry, the two started strangling and stabbing the woman, in an attempt to make her reveal the location of additional valuables.
At a certain point the woman stopped breathing and the two fled from the house with their meager loot.
When the three were arrested, Rabaiev was placed in a holding cell with several individuals, one of whom was a police informant, who was able to coax a confession out of Rabaiev .
According to the police, Rabaiev confessed to being outside of the house at the time of the robbery turned homicide, and to the fact that he did not call emergency services.
The police forensics team was also able to recover traces of DNA from underneath the woman's fingernails, which tied the defendants to the crime.
