BREAKING NEWS

Extradited Haifa murder suspect to plead self-defense, lawyer says

A man extradited to Israel last week for a murder in Haifa 18 years ago will plead self-defense when his case goes to trail, his attorney confirmed Monday.
Attorney Boris Sherman said his client Gennady Galkin, 43, contends that he stabbed 25-year-old Technion student Edward Rothberg to death at a Haifa nightclub after he got in a fight with Rothberg and two other youths. Sherman said his client contends that he did not bring the murder weapon with him and that he took the knife from one of the youths he was fighting with and used it against Rothberg.
Galkin has already reenacted the murder for police and is expected to be indicted by Thursday on murder charges. On Monday his remand was extended by the Haifa Magistrate’s Court until Thursday and during the hearing police and prosecutors issued a pre-indictment motion.
Galkin was extradited to Israel late last Tuesday night after 18 years on the run. The former Haifa resident had been  living in Germany under the assumed name “Mark” and was located in the Berlin area some three months ago, police said last week.
At his first hearing last Wednesday the only words he had to say to reporters were “I made a mistake.”