Autopsy shows Jerusalem mother strangled daughters before fire

An autopsy examination Monday of two of the girls killed in a Jerusalem apartment indicates that they were strangled to death before their mother set fire to the room and killed herself.

The father at first refused to allow an autopsy of his four daughters who were found dead Sunday in a burned room. Their mother was found outside, apparently after committing suicide.

However, he eventually agreed to a police compromise to only perform an autopsy on the two older girls to avoid dragging the matter through the courts.

The bodies of the two, aged 9 and 7, showed clear signs of violence and the autopsy indicated Monday that it was likely that they had been strangled by their mother before the room was set ablaze.

It is unknown whether she also strangled the two younger children, a 2-year-old and an 11-month old baby, though Walla news quoted a spokesman for the family as saying that their bodies also exhibited signs of violence.

Hundreds of people attended funeral of the five at Jerusalem’s Har Hamenuhot cemetery on Monday night.

The father’s lawyer, Dror Schusheim, told Channel 2 that his client has been crying nonstop, asking, “Where is my family?”

The man “is totally broken, and the same with the people around him. His parents came from abroad, his brother is also here, and there are others around him supporting him,” Schusheim said.

On Sunday, the father reportedly tried to call his wife several times and when she didn’t answer, he left work early and went home, Channel 2 said. On the way, he was met by police and social services who broke the news of the tragedy to him.

“I don’t understand how this happened. There were no warning signs. There were problems after the birth and I knew she was in poor spirits like in the past. I figured it would pass and we would get over it. But nothing would lead me to believe that she would do a thing like this,” Schusheim quoted the father as saying.

The family immigrated from France to Israel over a decade ago. Members of the French community in the neighborhood were struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

“This was a good family. Everyone is shocked,” a member of the community told Israel Hayom news site. “The grandmother is a doctor… who treated the mother, who was receiving daily psychiatric treatment. The grandmother spoke with the mother on the morning of the tragedy and offered to come and help her. The mother said that there was no need. That was their final conversation.”

Social workers were sent to the building to help neighbors cope with the tragedy and to the schools where the girls studied.

Moshe Tur-Paz, the head of the Jerusalem municipality education department, said there were no warning signs ahead of the tragedy.

“As far as is known, the girls did not show any signs of distress,” he said, according to the Ynet news website.

The education administration provided psychological services for students who attended the same classes as the deceased girls.

Fire officials said the blaze was contained to a single locked room where the bodies of the four children were found.