Turkish national arrested over suitcase murder

A Turkish national was arrested and is the prime suspect in the murder and dismemberment of a Romanian citizen who was working in Israel, the police revealed Wednesday after a gag order on the investigation was lifted.

The victim was identified as Denis Elona, 46, who arrived in the country more than four years ago and has since worked in nursing. Police said she was identified less than 24 hours after parts of her body were discovered in a suitcase on the streets of south Tel Aviv Saturday.

The discovery of the victim’s dismembered body shocked the country, though the working-class neighborhood, home to a large population of foreign workers and asylum seekers, has experienced violent crimes in the past.

One reason for the gag order was fear the perpetrator, whom police suspected was a foreigner, would flee the country before he was caught. After the suspect was taken into custody, details of the investigation were released by police.

The victim’s identification process was relatively easy, Tel Aviv police said, since all foreign workers are required to provide Israeli authorities with identification information, including fingerprints and biometric details.

Police said it was apparent the victim knew her murderer, and they tracked down the suspect, a foreign construction worker who lived near where the body was found. A neighbor said the two were together Thursday night, two days before the body was found, and looked as though everything was normal.

Investigators said it appeared the two had a dispute on Saturday, and the suspect strangled her to death in his apartment.

According to the investigators, after killing Elona the suspect, seeking to dispose of her body, used a knife to behead her and as well as chop off her arms and legs. He then left her torso in a suitcase and scattered her other body parts in a number of garbage dumpsters. Investigators noted the head was still missing, and might never be retrieved.

The knife used to kill Elona was found in the suspect’s apartment, police said. They added the man connected himself to the site of the murder during his questioning.