The suspect in the murder of Yelena Gerenberg, Jason Blaze, claimed the murder was an accident in his first appearance at the Magistrate's Court in Rishon Lezion for a hearing on the extension of his detention on Sunday.
"It was not on purpose," he said at the beginning of the hearing, in which he admitted that he got rid of 27-year-old Gerenberg's phone and computer. The court extended his detention by eight days, stating that there is a reasonable suspicion that he planned the murder in advance.
The police said at the court hearing that Blaze, 29, is fit to stand trial, but his lawyer argued that further examination is needed.
According to his lawyer, Abed Abu Amar, it was not premeditated murder, and he pointed out that Blaze did not change his clothes that had blood on them and did not remove his car that was left in the parking lot of the house.
According to Abu Amar, Blaze "removed the equipment because he was panicking and anxious." He also said that Blaze had already tried to end his life two years ago.
"This is not a murder, it happened by mistake. The suspect has a psychiatric background, he already had two suicide attempts. The whole incident happened by mistake."
Abed Abu Amar
"This is a normal person, it's a tragic and unfortunate incident," said the lawyer. "This is not a murder, it happened by mistake. The suspect has a psychiatric background, he already had two suicide attempts. The whole incident happened by mistake."
The first hearing took place without the presence of Blaze who was hospitalized after trying to commit suicide before the arrest. It also came up in the previous discussion that Blaze swallowed several pills of "Dexamol" and left a suicide note for his mother - who found him and rushed him to the hospital. His lawyer said he had tried to end his life in the past and suffered from deep depression and anxiety.
The events Prior to Yelena Gerenberg's murder
Gerenberg's body was found in an orchard near Rehovot last month. Acquaintances say that in the hours before the murder, Gerenberg, a student at the Peres College of Nutritional Sciences, was studying in the library of the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.
According to her older sister, Nadia, she arranged a joint dinner with her at her apartment, along with Blaze. The three decided to eat together and watch the "Big Brother" show.
She also said that Blaze picked up Yelena in his car from the library, and the two started driving to Nadia's apartment. The last message Nadia received from Yelena was at around 10:30 p.m., in which she said that Blaze was "not doing well" and they stopped on the side of the road. That evening, the two did not arrive at Nadia's apartment and the dinner did not take place.
Gerenberg, who lived at her parents' house, did not return to her house either, her mother only noticed at 05:00 in the morning that she did not come back home.
She went to the Rishon Lezion police station and reported her absence. Hours later, a passer-by found the body in an orchard in Rehovot with signs of violence and stabbings.