Court gives 20 years to man who killed his rapist
Despite feelings of paralysis, fear, Jonathan Heilo will sit in jail fifth of century for killing associate who blackmailed him, attacked him sexually
The Lod District Court sentenced on Sunday Jonathan Heilo to 20 years imprisonment for the murder of Yaron Eileen, who had allegedly raped the defendant.
The court in its sentencing accepted the fact that Heilo was afraid of the victim, as well as being stricken with a feeling of paralysis and fear, all of which came as a result of the brutal acts the murder victim had performed on him. The judges said Heilo was in a mental state of distress after being abused for a long period of time.
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The judges said "the damage the defendant did was massive, as he took a life, and there is no damage greater than that."
Heilo's lawyer, Alon Eisenberg, said the judges had preferred to ignore Supreme Court Justice Edna Arbel's specific recommendation that the case should end in an acquittal or a reduced punishment.
An opportune moment
In the sentencing, the judges said that Heilo had taken advantage of an opportune moment when the victim had his back turned toward Heilo while they were standing at a kiosk.
"The defendant killed the deceased cruelly: he strangled him, threw a rock at his head, dragged him 35 meters to a dark area and then threw a rock at the deceased's head a second time."
The judges did, however, say that Heilo had justified his actions well. "I wanted to teach him a lesson, but in the end it reached a point where I killed him."
Dead-checking
The court rejected Heilo's claim of self-defense last September, and instead charged him with murder. The judges said Heilo had decided to kill Eileen, and had planned the murder, without further provocation.
Heilo and Eileen met four years prior to the murder. On the night of the murder, in May 2010, Heilo and Eileen started talking, and then the drunk Heilo jumped on Eileen from behind, strangled him, hit him in the head with a brick and then dragged him to a nearby garbage dump.
Hours later, Heilo turned himself in and admitted he had committed the act. He said "he was scared to death" from Eileen. As well, he said that Eileen used to humiliate him in front of other people, hitting him and mentally abusing him.
"I didn't do anything to him and he continued to abuse me... I got to a point where I feared for my life."
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