Israeli nightlife figure found dead in Tel Aviv apartment in apparent murder
Daphna Bar Zion tried to break into the music scene in the 80's, owned hotspot Cafe Suzanna in Neveh Zedek; ex-husband, famous musician, suspected in murder.
By BEN HARTMANThe manhunt continued over the weekend for Ilan Ben- Ami, the guitarist for the Habreira Hativeet fusion band, who is wanted in the murder of his wife.The victim, well-known singer and restaurateur Daphne Bar-Tzion, 49, was found dead on Thursday.Ben-Ami, 47, is suspected of bludgeoning her to death in his apartment in south Tel Aviv’s Florentin neighborhood.Bar-Tzion was the founder and owner of Cafe Suzanna, an institution in the Neveh Tzedek neighborhood for the past 20 years. Before she opened the restaurant, Bar-Tzion was a well-known rock singer in Tel Aviv and recorded a number of singles.She returned to the music business in 1999, releasing a number of singles and albums over the next decade, to limited success.Ch.-Supt. Asi Tzur, head of the Yiftah subdistrict’s investigations and intelligence unit, said on Friday that the previous afternoon police received a missing persons complaint from Bar-Tzion’s family and began searching for her. Around 7 p.m., they found her dead inside Ben- Ami’s apartment with signs of serious violence to her body.A few months ago, Bar-Tzion submitted a domestic abuse complaint against Ben- Ami, Tzur said. In May, police recommended to prosecutors they indict Ben-Ami for the abuse, but the case had not yet advanced beyond that point, he said.Police are confident Ben- Ami will be found in the coming days, the police officer said.The couple separated earlier this year.
On Friday, Bar-Tzion’s funeral was held in Petah Tikva before hundreds of mourners.Hours later, police searched the home of Shlomo Bar, the frontman of Habreira Hativeet, out of suspicion that Ben-Ami may have been hiding there. Bar is not suspected of being involved in the murder.