Family of 6 slain in central Israel

The bodies of six people, including two children, were found in a torched apartment in central Israel's Rishon Lezion's Nordau Street Saturday.

Mass emergency, Fire and Rescue and police forces were called to the scene of the fire in the early hours of the morning. The flames were soon extinguished, but paramedics had no choice but to pronounce six individuals found at the apartment dead at the scene.  

The victims were identified as Eduard Ushrenko and his wife Ludmila (56), their son Demetri (32), his wife Tatiana (28) and their two children, Revital (3) and Netanel (four months).

The scene (Photo: Avi Mualem)

Initial investigation revealed multiple points of origin for the fire, as well as evidence of blood and stab wounds on the bodies. The Police believe the deaths were not related to the fire and are treating the case as a homicide

Firefighter Moshe Cohen told Ynet that the department arrived at the scene after receiving a routine call: "We saw some smoke coming out of one of the windows… When we entered the living room we found one body covered in blood. We found the remains of other adults and the children in the other rooms.

"It was a gruesome scene. We quickly realized their deaths were not related to the fire, but that it was in al probability a criminal act," he said.

Paramedic Nadav Ovadia added: "We came in and found the body of a man. We examined him and had to pronounce him dead.

"The firefighters canvassed the apartment and found the other bodies. There was little doubt as to their condition and the physician pronounced their deaths."

Top police brass supervising closely (Photo: Avi Mualem)

Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen, Central Police District Commander Nisim Mor and HaShephelah Subdistrict Commander Shimon Ben Harush arrived at the scene to personally supervise the investigation. 

Mor: "This is a very difficult scene. Five members of the family were found stabbed and one body was found charred. We are currently exploring all leads, but we believed the murders were committed from within the apartment, since it was found with the door locked."

Case baffles police

A background check on the family involved revealed the police had no record of them: "Right now the scene is still problematic, since fire and emergency services worked in it and it isn’t sterile. These are only the first stages of the investigation," he added.

The police are facing a difficult investigation: While the premise is that the case is one of murder-suicide, firefighters and paramedics had to move the bodies upon entering the scene, possibly compromising evidence.

A police source told Ynet that all leads are being pursued at this time: "The initial findings do support the theory that the act was perpetrated from within the apartment, but there are several questions about the condition of the bodies. Also, we have yet to recover the murder weapon."

The latter, explained the source is the reason the police have not excluded the possibility that someone may have entered the apartment.

Additional evidence which may support the "third man theory" in this case have to do with the fact that initial findings indicate that the apartment door was apparently locked form the outside, as well as that the fire was set after the murders, probably in an attempt to hide evidence.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, who knew the family, told Ynet he was devastated by the news: "I'm a close family friend and this is a great personal tragedy for me. I haven’t been able to pull myself together since I heard the news."

Misezhnikov said that the family came to Israel with the first wave of mass immigration from Russia, in the early 1990s.

The young couple owned a restaurant and a club which catered to the Russian sector.

"They worked so hard to be successful. They had one of the most successful (sector) establishments in the country."