Ushrenko family murder: Neighbors heard nothing

A day after the bodies of six family members, including two children, were found in a torched apartment in Rishon Lezion's Nordau Street, investigators from the central unit of the Israel Police's Central District are still looking for a possible motive.

Mass emergency, Fire and Rescue and police forces were called to the scene of the fire in the early hours of Saturday 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 (4 months).

Neighbors of the Ushrenko family claim that they had not seen or heard anything prior to and during the murder, but a source familiar with the investigation said, "Someone had to have seen a car approaching, or heard a scream – something out of the ordinary."

"All six victims were stabbed to death. It cannot be that there was no commotion or struggle," he said.

A senior central unit officer said, "I have never encountered such a situation in all of my dozens of years as a police officer.

Another officer told Ynet that that investigation into the family's murder is likely to be "one of the most complex we have ever known."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the murder of the Ushrenko family in Rishon Lezion ahead of Sunday's weekly government meeting.

"I want to express pain and deep shock at the terrible murder. I've asked Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch to keep me updated on the steps of solving the horrible crime," he said. He also sent his regards to the extended family, friends of Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov.