After forensic breakthrough, man convicted of murdering woman in Eilat 21 years ago
Sami Abu Al-Asal sentenced to 23 years behind bars, ordered to pay NIS 100,000 in damages for 2003 murder of 21-year-old Margarita Levy
The Beersheba District Court on Thursday convicted a man of murdering a young woman 21 years ago, after a forensic breakthrough in the cold case led police to the suspect.
Sami Abu Al-Asal, now 51, a resident of Jaffa, was convicted under a plea deal and sentenced to 23 years behind bars for the 2003 murder of 21-year-old Margarita Levy in Eilat, where she had gone to work as a waitress before planning to start university studies in Jerusalem.
He was also ordered to pay NIS 100,000 ($27,000) in damages to the mother of the victim.
The decision noted that the sentence was “on the low end of the appropriate punishment range for this crime,” due to difficulties bringing evidence to the court so long after the crime was committed.
“It is also worth noting that the accused today expresses remorse and takes responsibility for his actions… this is someone who in the years that have passed since the crime was committed has gone through a rehabilitation procedure, started a family and leads a normal life.”
Al-Asal had previously been jailed for 13 years for assaulting another woman.
According to prosecutors, the two met four days after Levy arrived in Eilat. Al-Asal assaulted her, beating her on the head, face and upper body, and then stabbed her in the chest, prosecutors said. He then dumped her body in a city park.
Her lifeless body was found in a public park, wrapped in a blanket with her arms tied and her head wrapped in a bloodied towel. Her body showed signs of a violent assault. The location of her death was never identified.
The case remained unsolved for two decades, until new forensic methods were applied in 2022 to samples taken from the site where Levy’s body was found, and the DNA evidence was linked to Al-Asal.
An undercover investigation was opened and in May 2023 and Al-Asal was arrested.
The new developments were also used to clear a previous suspect of suspicion of involvement in the case. Levy’s family was kept updated on all the developments.
Al-Asal was also accused of sexually assaulting Levy before murdering her, but issues with the evidence led to those charges being removed from the final conviction.
The Times of Israel Community.