Suspected Killer of Rehovot Girl Remanded

"Rishon Letzion Magistrate's Court yesterday extended by nine days the remand of the teenager suspected of murdering 15-year-old Ma'ayan Sapir in Rehovot Friday. A gag order had been imposed on the case earlier this week.

The 16-year-old suspect's lawyer, Avi Cohen, said yesterday after the remand hearing that he would probably submit an appeal today, since the court had rejected his request for the youth to undergo a psychiatric examination by an expert of his own choosing. Cohen deplored the court's ruling that the youth's mental state be examined first by the district psychiatrist. "We are quite critical about the fact that the boy wasn't examined by a psychiatrist shortly after he was arrested," he said.

Police are still investigating the murder. Initially, the boy admitted he strangled the girl to death. Her naked body was discovered Friday night in an abandoned schoolyard in the center of Rehovot. The boy was taken into custody a few hours later while under the influence of alcohol and contact glue fumes.

On the day of the murder, the suspect was on weekend leave from the Mitzpe Yam home for juvenile delinquents in Herzliya."

Source: Yuval Azoulay. Suspected killer of Rehovot girl remanded. Haaretz.com (2 June 2005) [FullText]