State’s witness: ‘I told my ex not to go Barnoar, I saved his life’
For years he kept secret of Barnoar, until a dispute with his partners in crime. In a recorded conversation with acquaintances, which made its way to Ynet, key player in cracking of case tells reasons he confessed, claims he dropped hint to police in original questioning. 'I'm not afraid, not even of the great gangster. If they shoot me, things will come full circle'
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The man is a criminal who was in prison several times, for violent crimes, among other things. A week and a half before the murder, when he was still in prison, he was approached by two of the suspects, who had cooperated with him in previous crimes. They told him about what allegedly happened to one of them: A well-known activist in the gay community had sexually assaulted him. They asked for information regarding the man, and the witness told them that he would be at Barnoar that evening – August 1, 2009. "I thought maybe they would beat him up," he said in a recording obtained by Ynet.
"I had a friend who was supposed to be in Barnoar on the day of the murders. I told him not to go there, I saved his life," the witness said to friends. The next day, upon speaking to the main suspect, the witness realized the revenge had been murder.
Two days after the murder, the witness was questioned himself, as he used to frequent the Barnoar, and even had confrontations there with people. His name came up in police inquiries, and detectives went to question him in jail. He did not say anything specific, but he claims that he did leave them with a hint – you should focus on the community activist. It is unclear whether investigators really listened to what he was saying. The interpretation of this, regardless, took much longer.
Since then, the witness carried with him the terrible secret. After about two years, when he was released from prison, the subject came up in a conversation between the friends at his get-out-of-prison party. They agreed not to mention it again.
But the complications were just beginning. "I was connected to this family, and I helped the brother of the suspect with something. He left the place, the police arrived, it was a mess. Had he remained with me, I would not have been arrested again," the witness told his acquaintances. "When I went back into prison, none of them supported me financially, because of our criminal relationship, they were obligated to support me. I sat in detention for two months thinking about it before I finally approached the police. I said to myself, ‘This time I go to the cops. Why? because they screwed me.’”
Gadi Eshed, commander of the police’s Tel Aviv Central Unit which managed the man who turned state’s witness, expanded on his motive: “One was his criminal associates turning their backs on him. At the moment of truth, they forgot their loyalty to him, and this was a betrayal as far as he was concerned. The second motive – he himself is a member of the gay community, and this is not something taken for granted. As a part of this community, he has a conscience."
Things make sense
As police requested of him, the witness resumed the relationship with his friends. "I was released and became an agent of the police. I met with those involved, recording them and that was it; within a month everything was settled. I thought it would take more time. The arrest was supposed to take place later, but the main suspect, after he spoke to me, he realized he had said things he should not have said, he understood what a mistake he had made, and he began to look for me.”
“But my operators wised up quickly, and I had to disappear. They pulled me from the field and took me to a certain place, and then my situation changed. I could not leave the house at all. I would not agree to this, and the police began to fear that they would lose the case, so they made immediate arrests."
The brother of the main suspect said yesterday to Ynet that there is no chance this story is real, and the police are about to fail colossally. The state’s witness is not impressed. "They should not try to come across as beautiful and pure, because they are not and never will be like that. Right now they will not admit my acquaintance with them, but even without admitting it, they are going to be convicted."
The state’s witness remains in hiding and tells his friends he is not scared. "I'm not afraid of anyone, because I also have balls. To tell you that I'm afraid of dying, well I’m not. As far as I’m concerned, if they shoot me, it would bring things full circle. I am not afraid. I’m not afraid of the big gangster brother, no. I come from the world of crime, and I'm not afraid of anybody."
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