The murder case of Nissim Shitrit, z’l, in 1986 has been solved and the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office will file the first two indictments on Friday against Baruch Sharvit, a follower of Berland, as well as against another suspect who has not yet been named.

According to the police, on the day he was murdered, Shitrit was lured to an apartment where he was beaten. The suspects feared his screams would arouse the suspicion of the neighbors so they brought him by car to the Eshtaol Forest in the Beit Shemesh area, near the kever of Dan ben Yaakov, where they beat him to death. They then buried him in the area. The police have not yet succeeded in finding his body.

The case of the murder of Avi Edri, z’l, in 1990 has reached an impasse for various reasons, including issues with evidence, such as a fingerprint that was found that does not belong to any of the suspects. Additionally, about ten days ago, one of the suspects in the case passed away of the coronavirus.

Three of the suspects in Edri’s disappearance and murder will be released under restrictive conditions: Eliezer Berland, his son-in-law Tzvika Zucker, and the mayor of a Charedi city, whose name is still under a gag order. None of them were involved in the actual murder itself and the crimes they are suspected of committing have passed the statute of limitation.

Berland will not actually return home but will return to jail, where he is currently serving a sentence for other criminal offenses.

Attorney Ariel Etri, who is representing the Chareidi mayor, said in response to the release of his client to house arrest: “As we said from the first day, the mayor’s connection to Edri’s murder is like his connection to the murder of Arlosoroff [an Israeli politician assassinated in 1933.] We’re happy that the police also understood this. ”

Zucker’s lawyer, Attorney Roi Brauner, said: “We said it at the beginning, we said it in the middle, and we’re saying it now. Tzvika Zucker has no connection to these murder cases. I’m happy that justice has come to light and my client will be released and can return to his family.”

The attorneys for the family members of Nissim Shitrit said: “The family expects that the state of Israel will bring to justice all those involved in the cruel murder of Nissim Shitrit, z’l, who was murdered at a young age with unfathomable cruelty and his body disappeared. The Shitrit family will not rest until justice is served.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)