Zeev Rosenstein
Photo: Dudi Azoulay
Crime boss Rosenstein charged with murder
Underworld figure currently serving 12-year sentence for a US drug trafficking conviction charged with commissioning murder of Rafi Weitzman in 2001as revenge for attempt to kill him five years earlier; two other crime figures were killed in shooting
An indictment has been filed on Tuesday with the Nazareth District Court charging crime boss Zeev Rosenstein with murder and two counts of manslaughter in the case of the triple homicide that took place on Tiberias' Shaldag Beach nine years ago. He is also being charged with conspiracy to commit a crime.
The charges are based on testimony by a state witness obtained during the investigation of an extensive drug trafficking ring in the north.
The state witness told police that Rosenstein had offered $100,000 to kill underworld figure Rafi Weitzman in revenge for an alleged attempt to have him murdered in 1996. David Ben-Mergi and Sharon Musawi were also killed due to what the state witness described as the "chaos" of the situation and because the perpetrators wanted to "show off."
The three men were shot dead from close range.
According to the indictment, Rosenstein, who is currently serving a 12-year sentence for a US drug trafficking conviction, asked Guy Weberman, his right-hand man, to head the operation.
Weberman hired Yehuda Ohayan and Eyal Sheetrit, who brought Yoram Finian on as a getaway driver. In 2006 Ohayon was convicted of accessory to murder as part of a plea bargain and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Sheetrit was later killed by Finian over a financial dispute.
Rosenstein was initially arrested in late September, but police struggled to gather enough evidence based on the state witness's testimony. Recently, however, the Central Police District's Central Unit managed to recruit a second state witness, who also linked Rosenstein to the murders.
If convicted, Rosenstein is expected to remain behind bars for the rest of his life.
