Eliran Malul, the husband of Michal Sela, was convicted of her murder under aggravated circumstances on Wednesday.
The murder took place in October 2019. The charges against Malul describe him as stabbing Sela repeatedly in their Motza home outside Jerusalem and staying next to her body for about 17 hours with their infant daughter in the house before taking the baby girl to a neighbor and asking for help.
Neighbors called the police after Malul came to their door covered in blood, and gave them the baby, after which he reportedly fainted. He was found with stab wounds to his stomach and neck in serious condition.
“The Jerusalem District Court accepted the prosecution’s stance and convicted the defendant Eliran Malul of the murder of Michal Sela under aggravated circumstances as it was attributed to him in the indictment,” said the Jerusalem district prosecution.
“In his actions, the defendant left a wounded family that deals daily with the repercussion of his act. We hope that this ruling, even if it does not comfort the family, will take some of the burden that they carry,” added the prosecution.
Sela’s sister Lili Ben-Ami announced Wednesday that the family would be at the court, hoping to hear a conviction on the charge of murder under aggravated circumstances.
“Michal got justice today,” Ben-Ami said to the press after the conviction was announced.
“There are judges in Israel,” continued Ben-Ami. “Thank you for bringing back the family’s and the public’s trust in the courts.
“I hope that my sister Michal Sela’s case will be on the mind of the next judge [of a case like this] but also on the mind of the next murderer, and that he will know that the public will not forgive and not forget and that the courts will not forgive and not forget.
“We are closing ranks and fighting to eliminate the murder of women,” added Ben-Ami.
“Over the course of the trial, the defendant was quiet or invented false versions of what occurred during those terrible 17 hours, at the end of which Michal was found dead,” said attorney Ruthie Eldar, who represented Sela’s family.
“This horror occurred in Michal’s own home, which was supposed to be her fortress, with her baby daughter present. There is no telling what she saw, how she was cared for and what she went through,” said Eldar.
Hagit Peer, chairwoman of women’s organization Na’amat, expressed her satisfaction with the conviction but lamented the fact that charges against Malul did not include abuse of a minor, “despite the fact that for 18 hours Michal’s baby was in that bloodbath.”
Na’amat proposed a bill that would mean that a child’s presence in such a situation would constitute abuse, and the bill was submitted Wednesday by two members of Knesset, said Peer.
N2 Violence Against Women CEO Vardit Danziger responded to the conviction, saying that the court had sent a message with the conviction.
“There is no forgiveness for a murder such as this, and the court sent a clear message today that the place of people such as Eliran Malul is behind lock and key until the end of their days.”
Malul said in the trial that he didn’t know how his late wife died. He claimed she stabbed him, forced him to drink scotch, and was laying on the floor dead alongside pills when he woke up, The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication Maariv reported.
A prosecutor’s statement, filed in 2019 against Malul, said that he had abused previous partners.
Police had investigated six previous partners of Malul, two of whom claimed he had been violent toward them, using imprisonment and indecent acts. Other partners claimed they had been mentally abused.
Tamar Beeri contributed to this report.