Suspect extradited to Israel 18 years after murder
Police arrest suspect in unsolved 1998 Haifa murder after discovering that suspect was living in Berlin under an assumed identity.
Israeli and German police on Wednesday arrested in Berlin Gennady Galkin, 43-year-old former resident of Haifa suspected of involvement in a 1998 murder in the Israeli city. The suspect was apprehended after a discovery two years ago that he was living in Berlin under a false name. He was extradited to Israel.
The murder victim was Edward Rothberg, a 25-year-old student at the Israel Institute of Technology. He was stabbed to death at a club on Nordau Street in Haifa.
Rotberg's father Roman told Ynet on Wednesday that the family is "still mourning" and cannot find satisfaction in the apprehension of the suspect. "It's hard to say that we're happy," he said. "We are still mourning and there is no joy or satisfaction in it. Not a day goes by that we don't think about this case and about our son."
Galkin's remand was extended by six days on Wednesday. Ahead of the hearing, Galkin said he could not speak as per his attorney's advice, but did say of the incident: "I was wrong."
Police Commander Benny Avalia explained that investigators learned of the suspect's false identity about a year and a half before the arrest. "After the information was confirmed and the man was identified, we began the extradition process, which was extremely complicated."
Yedioth Ahronoth reported after the murder 18 years ago that the suspect was an ex-boyfriend of Y., a young woman who was in a relationship with Rothberg. "The suspect fled mere hours after the murder in a plane to Germany, and the police are currently expending great efforts to bring about his arrest abroad through Interpol," the newspaper reported.
The paper reported that police had detained for questioning eight people who were at the party, including Y., and that they were permitted to go home after talking to police.
It also reported that Y. told investigators that she had been with Rothberg at the beginning of the party and didn't know who might want him dead, but later "broke and revealed that she arrived at the party with someone who was her boyfriend for six years. She said that in recent years he has lived abroad and tends to visit Israel now and then.
"Investigators were then informed that a few days ago, this man came to Haifa and met with Y.," the report continued.
"The two arrived at the party in the basement, where they met Rothberg, with whom Y. had become friendly a few months earlier. Investigators believe he was enraged that Rotberg had a romantic relationship with Y., and a verbal fight broke out between them. According to suspicions, the suspect then laid in wait for Rothberg outside the building, noticed him and stabbed him to death. He had time to get on a flight to Germany."
