(Israel) In Memory of Ma'ayan Sapir - Murder Victim

Ma'ayan Sapir's mother (center) being comforted during the sentencing of her daughter's killer in Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday. (Motti Kimche)

Teen murderer, rapist sentenced to life
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Jerusalem Post
January 25, 2007


The Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday sentenced the youth who was convicted of the rape and murder of 15-year-old Ma'ayan Sapir in May 2005 to life in prison plus 15 years, despite the fact the he is a minor.

The justices wrote in their decision that "the accused did not take pity on Ma'ayan or her body, and didn't feel a drop of pity for her at any stage. Not when he attacked her while she was walking…, not when he led her to the scene of the murder, not when he sexually assaulted her, not before he murdered her, not when he choked her, and not today."

"Beyond that," the decision continued, "the danger [presented by] the accused is growing worse."

The judges added that during the sentencing, the youth had not provided any explanation of his motives, and had only repeated that he was "sorry," and "didn't know what to say."

According to the indictment, the teenager met Sapir on her way to the mall, knocked her violently to the ground and dragged her into the empty schoolyard. He then raped, sodomized and strangled her.

The suspect, according to the charge sheet, then fled the scene of the murder and disposed of Sapir's clothing in a nearby alley. He was arrested shortly after the murder and was found to have been under the influence of glue fumes and alcohol.

The attacker, a juvenile offender with a history of violent crime, was on his second furlough from a correctional institution.