Four suspects, including a well-known Israeli model, remain in custody Monday as police continue to investigate the death of Shalom Nissim, whose body was found last week outside the model’s apartment in Petah Tikva.
Police said the four — the model and three men — were detained after Nissim, 38, was discovered dead beneath the building where the group had been staying. Investigators initially suspected suicide, but an autopsy at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine indicated he had been attacked before falling to his death.
According to the investigation, the suspects had been using drugs inside the apartment when Nissim arrived. An argument reportedly broke out, during which he was assaulted and stabbed. He then jumped out of a window, landed on a fence, and was killed instantly.
A court-imposed gag order remains in effect, barring publication of the suspects’ names and certain details of the case. Attorneys for the model said she denies any involvement and has no criminal record. Several of the other suspects are known to police from past criminal investigations, including cases involving arson, firearms, and threats.
All four suspects remain in detention as police continue to question them. Attorneys Asaf Gonen and Shai Roda, representing two of the men, said their clients are cooperating with investigators and deny the allegations.
Nissim was the son of Asher Nissim, who is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife in 2001. The elder Nissim petitioned to attend his son’s funeral but was denied. He was later permitted to leave prison for several hours to sit shiva with his family.
In the 2001 case, Asher Nissim ambushed his wife, Vicky, outside her workplace in Holon and fatally stabbed her. She had filed a police complaint weeks earlier, saying he beat and threatened her.
Police have not disclosed when the suspects in the Petah Tikva case will next appear in court.