An elderly woman was found dead in a Tel Aviv hotel with her husband in serious condition alongside her in what police suspect might be a troubling murder-suicide case.
By ELIYAHU KAMISHER, JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: JUNE 13, 2017 13:26magen David Adom responding to tragedy at Renaissance Hotel in Tel AvivEmergency medical responders found a dead woman and critically injured man at the Renaissance Hotel in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning.Magen David Adom paramedics responded to the scene at 8:30 a.m and pronounced the woman dead at the scene. The man, who found bleeding from his limbs and in critical condition, was rushed to the Sourasky Medical Center for further treatment.Police said that “all directions are being investigated,” including the possibility of an attempted murder-suicide.“When we arrived at the hotel they led us to one of the rooms where we saw a woman in her 60s unconscious, breathless and without a pulse, and next to a man of about 70, semi-conscious,” MDA paramedic Dor Kaufman said.“We gave him medical treatment that saved his life and evacuated him to the hospital when his condition was defined as difficult and stable, we performed medical tests on the woman, she was without signs of life in a short time we determined her death.”According to The Jerusalem Post's sister publication Maariv, the couple, residents of Ashdod, left a suicide note in which they wrote that they decided to put an end to their lives because of physical conditions they were both suffering from.The woman reportedly suffered from mental illness and her husband was suffering from a grave physical condition.Maariv reported that since no signs of violence were found on the woman's body, it was less likely that the deaths were caused by a third party. Police have yet to rule out the possibility that she was poisoned or choked to death. However, bleeding gashes were discovered on the man's body.A room attendant working at the Renaissance Hotel was reportedly the one to find the two unconscious in their room on Tuesday morning, and she alerted the hotel's security officer and staff.Tuesday’s incident comes as another couple, Odelia Bachar and Baruch Indig, both in their 20s, were found dead at a luxury hotel in Eilat on Sunday. Police found a farewell note indicating a double suicide, but said they are investigating all possible causes for the deaths, including murder-suicide.
However, the police investigation was made more difficult as both families petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday against an autopsy of the deceased after the Eilat Magistrate's Court approved the police’s request for an autopsy.