DNA from murder matches Bejenari's
The 26-year-old Haifa resident held in police custody for the past month and a half on suspicion of committing at least four rapes and murders is further implicated; his current girlfriend expressed her shock, and his attorney asserted that he maintains his innocence.
Feodor Bejenari, 26, of Haifa has been held in police custody
for 47 days now on suspicion having committed a string of murders and sexual assaults against at least four women. Bejenari was detained after the last suspected murder in which the female victim died in a fire that was initially considered accidental.
The investigation is being handled by three different police units. Bejenari, whose detention has been extended multiple times, is also suspected of arson. After the suspect spent 30 days in police detention, the attorney general approved the detention's further extension, despite the fact that the suspect has yet to be indicted.
The police have DNA evidence from one of the crime scenes that they believe to belong to the alleged murderer. The police have compared it with Bejenari's DNA and found it to be a match.
After concluding that the suspect had murdered women in a similar fashion, the police checked an unsolved murder of a woman from two years ago. Her body was disinterred for examination, but a gag order was in effect at the time that prevented the press from reporting on this.
Bejenari with his ex-wife
The investigation is being handled by three different police units. Bejenari, whose detention has been extended multiple times, is also suspected of arson. After the suspect spent 30 days in police detention, the attorney general approved the detention's further extension, despite the fact that the suspect has yet to be indicted.
Bejenari and his girlfriend's home in Haifa
Bejenari is originally from Moldova, and he immigrated to Israel a few years ago with this wife at the time and their son. The couple has since divorced, and the suspect entered into a new relationship with a woman two years ago who gave birth to their son four months ago.
Bejenari with his girlfriend
The new mother spoke with Ynet about Bejenari. She stated she had no idea that her partner was involved in such sordid affairs, though she apparently considered him possible of having done so. She said, "I sat with my four-month old child in my arms, and I understood that I had been living with a person who possibly could have killed me."
Bejenari with his ex-wife
Despite this revelation, Bejenari's partner preferred to focus on the positive aspects of their relationship. "He's a wonderful person that was the best in the world. Always helpful, always supportive. It doesn't gel with everything that's been written about him. My mother is disabled, and everything that she would ask of him, he would do."
Bejenari
Bejenari's lawyer, Lior Ronen, spoke with Ynet on Wednesday morning and disputed the police's claim that his client was a serial murderer and rapist. "According to the interrogation transcripts and the police's arrest warrant applications, we can see that, from this whole affair, they are associating my client with one sex crime alone," Ronen stated.
Noam (Dabul) Dvir, Ahiya Raved, Matan Tzuri, and Itay Blumental contributed to this story.
