Rose case: Marie didn’t report death because 'she can't dial phone'

Ronny Ron, who is accused of murdering his four-year-old granddaughter Rose in the summer of 2008, took the stand once more Tuesday at the Petah Tikva District Court.

Ron's testimony offered yet another version of the events: After first telling the police that Rose's mother, Marie-Charlotte Renault, had no knowledge of the murder and then telling the court that he told her about it only days before the two were arrested, Ron now claims that Renault failed to report the murder "because she doesn’t know how to dial (the phone)."

Answers provided to other questions posed by the prosecution failed to clarify the events leading to the child's death.

For full coverage of the Rose Pizem murder case click here

He described the four-year-old's first days in Israel, after attending a boarding school in Paris, saying "everyone loved her, everyone wanted her."

When asked why he sought to place Rose in a boarding school instead of a public kindergarten, Ron gave a confused answer, saying at first that the local kindergartens refused her admission because she was Christian, and adding that he chose to enroll her in a boarding school based on the advice of a well-known sex therapist.

Remember. The vigil (Photo: Yaron Brener)

Commenting on the recent suicide of Assaf Goldring – accused of strangling his three-year-old daughter Noa to death – who killed himself Monday at the Hadarim prison, Ron said: "I'm afraid of dying. I'm sorry to disappoint everyone, but I don't have that kind of courage."

The hearing also saw a vigil of sorts, as several women wearing T-shirts with Rose's picture and the slogan "Remembering you" were in attendance. The women told Ynet that they decided to attend the hearing after learning that no member of Rose's family did so.

Debby Spector, one of the women, told Ynet that "we all feel as if she's our child. When we heard no one was here for here, we decided to come."

Dorit Mulad-Or added that vigil was a spontaneous one, by women who did not know each other beforehand: "We are here to remind everyone that there is more to this trial than Ron and Marie – this is about a murdered child."