Ushrenko family laid to rest; police still baffled by murder

Members of the Ushrenko family, slain in their home Saturday, were laid to rest at the Givat Brenner Cemetery Sunday afternoon.

Eduard Ushrenko and his wife Ludmila, 56, their son Demetri, 32, his wife Tatiana, 28, and their two children - three-year-old Revital and four-month-old Netanel, were found stabbed to death in their apartment Saturday morning. The premises had been set on fire, in what police believe was an attempt to destroy evidence.

Six caskets were lined next to each other on the cemetery grounds ahead of the burial at the alternative cemetery, which also services non-Jews.

Hundreds of family members and friend came to pay their respects, breaking down in tears at the eerie sight of the children's small coffins flanking their parent and grandparents' ones.

Among those attending the service were Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, who was a family friend, and Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver.

"This is a horrible tragedy," she said. "We're standing over the graves of a family who immigrated to Israel and built a life here. This murderer spared no one, not even small children."

The funeral (Photo: Avi Mualem)   

Meanwhile, the police are still puzzled by the brutal slaying. A subsequent autopsy confirmed all six died of multiple stab wounds.

A special task force was formed to investigate the murders Sunday. It is currently focused on the area immediately surrounding the crime scene – Nordau Street, in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion.  

The Rishon Lezion Municipality was instructed to suspend sanitary services in the area, believing the perpetrators may have disposed of items in one of the area's dumpsters.

The funeral (Photo: Avi Mualem) 

Dozens of police offices have been canvassing city streets and dumpsters in an attempt to find clues to the case.

The detectives assigned to the case have also been ordered to detain and question any person found lurking around the crime scene.

Police believe that the key to the case lies with Demetri Ushrenko's daily patterns. The young Ushrenko and his parents immigrated to Israel from Tajikistan and police are looking into the possibility that his past might have caught up with him in some way.

The possibility that the crime was committed by more than one person is also being explored.

Another part of the task force in trying to obtain footage from security cameras in the surrounding area, in hopes that the killer or killers were caught on tape.

The initial murder-suicide supposition, explored when the apartment was found locked, has since been set aside. According to the police, other evidence found at the scene did not support it.

Police forensic experts are still processing the crime scene and are likely to be finished by Monday.