Ushrenko family murdered by chief waiter

They fled south, but were arrested by Central District investigators a week after the murder. They confessed to the allegations and Damian reenacted the act.

The gag order imposed on the investigation details was lifted Monday, after Kerlik broke down during his police interrogation last week, confessed to the murder and even reenacted it composedly.

The police held a pres conference Monday afternoon to reveal the details of the affair. Central District Commander Nissim Mor said that during the enactment Kerlik kneeled next to the baby's crib and asked for forgiveness. "But there is no forgiveness," said Commander Mor.

The police believe Kerlik acted alone. His wife was not present in the scene of the crime, but is suspected of aiding him. His parents, Oleg and Olga, were also arrested on suspicion of disrupting the investigation procedures, as well as Natalia's sister, Masha, and another family member.

The six Ushrenko family members – Dmitry and Tatiana, their children Revital, 3, and Netanel, four months, and Dmitry's parents, Eduard and Ludmila, were stabbed to death on Friday night, October 16, in their apartments in central Rishon Lezion.

The massacre took place several hours after the family celebrated Revital's third birthday. The apartment was then set on fire, and the horrifying site was only discovered on Saturday morning.

The main question investigators were trying to solve was the motive behind the massacre. They asked themselves who could have erased a normative family which had no links to the underworld and whether the family had been in a conflict with anyone.

The investigation quickly led to one such person – Damian Kerlik, who had worked as a chief waiter in the family's Premier restaurant in Rishon Lezion. Kerlik was fired two years ago after being caught by stealing vodka cases by Eduard Ushrenko.

This strife, investigators believe, eventually led Kerlik to carry out the inconceivable act. The police believe that he was humiliated during the dismissal in front of all the other workers, and later found out that the theft affair was revealed.

Damian Kerlik taken to reenactment at Ushrenko home (Photo: Avi Moalem)

Kerlik admitted in his interrogation that he had strong feelings of hatred against the Ushrenko family since he was fired. In addition, he had heard rumors that his wife, who continued to work at the restaurant until the day of the murder, was having an affair with Eduard Ushrenko.

The couple told the police that their motive was o rob the family of its daily revenue. A small sum of money was indeed taken from the apartment on the night of the murder, but the investigators find it had to believe that lucre was the only motive for such a cruel act.

Suspect attended funeral

The clue which eventually led to the arrest was found by the police during the initial canvass of the scene, as investigators found a set of bloody clothes which did not belong to any of the victims, leading them to believe they were the killer's.

The police were able to extract DNA evidence from the clothes, later matching it to Kerlik.

Police Central Unit Commander Avi Neuman formed a special task force to investigate the brutal slaying. The team soon learned of the dispute between Kerlik and the Ushrenko family, giving him motive.

The funeral (Photo: Avi Moalem)

Further investigation concluded that Kerlik traveled to southern Israel on the night of the murders, returning soon after in order to take part in the family's funeral – as means of thwarting suspicion. Following the funeral Kerlik and his wife traveled south once again – a move which struck investigators as puzzling.

The police then tracked the couple's car to the southern resort city of Eilat. A DNA sample taken from the vehicle was found to be a match to ones taken from the crime scene and the two were arrested.

Natalia broke down first

Chief Superintendent Yoav Kotler headed the couple's interrogation. The two denied any connection to the murders at first, but soon after that Natalia broke down and confessed. Damian confessed two days later, giving investigators a written account of the gruesome events.

Dmitry and Tatiana Ushrekno with their children (Reproduction photo: Avi Moalem)

The police have yet to decide what charges to file against Natalia. Investigators have been able to ascertain that she was indeed an accomplice, despite her claim that as far as she knew, her husband was planning to only to rob the Ushrenko's apartment.

Nevertheless, and despite the fact that Natalia was not present at the scene of the murder, police believe that they would be able to link her to the act.

The four other family members arrested are not suspected of being directly involved in the murders, but rather of obstruction of justice and possibly being accomplices after the fact.

"I haven’t done anything. I can only be responsible for my son up to a certain age," Oleg Kerlik told the court. "I have no idea why he would do such a thing – if indeed he did it."

All four have been remanded to police custody in a closed door hearing.