Amit Almog charged with murder of girlfriend Maya Vishniyak
Almog has also been charged with aggravated assault against his mother.
By ALEX WINSTONAmit Almog appears in court via video stream, June 11, 2020(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
Amit Almog was charged on Thursday morning with the murder of his girlfriend Maya Vishniyak by the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court.He has also been charged with aggravated assault against his mother.Vishniyak’s family was present in court and shouted at Almog after the charge was read, “Shame, heinous killer.”Almog was caught close to his home after the incident on May 16, after his mother called the police over his alleged murder of 22-year-old Vishniyak. After allegedly killing Vishniyak, Almog waited in the apartment for his mother to arrive and allegedly attacked her with a knife to the face and body, after showing her Vishniyak’s body.He also covered her body with banknotes, photographed it and sent the pictures to at least one of his friends.Vishniyak’s father explained, “There are a few clear things to understand about the indictment. For one thing, it was premeditated; it was engineered, it acted first. It will be clear.”“Another thing,” her father said, is that “there is no case of temporary insanity; there is complete sanity here. He said he heard voices: He heard voices from people who explained what to say and how to behave. He had time to throw banknotes on our daughter after she died and sent pictures. He had time for that. What does it mean? He was sane, he had time to find his friend and send pictures to him.”When Almog was arrested, he showed signs of mental instability and panic, lunging at police officers in the courtroom. He is said to have been very confused during the investigation, though he confessed to the murder, saying voices in his head told him to do it.Almog was found to have intentionally murdered Vishniyak, according to the prosecutor’s statement delivered by the Israel Police to the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court on Sunday afternoon.Tamar Beeri contributed to this report.
