Brother accuses identical twin of murdering their parents

A man accused of murdering his parents testified in court on Monday that it was his blackmailing twin brother who committed the crime.

Daniel Maoz denied killing his parents, Noah and Nurit Maoz, and instead claimed it was his identical twin brother, Nir, who stabbed the two to death.

The case has gripped the Israeli media since the discovery of the bodies of the Maozes last August in their Jerusalem apartment and the subsequent arrest of their son Daniel, who was charged with the double murder.

The state alleges Maoz killed his parents in order to use their inheritance money to pay off gambling debts he had at the time.

As Daniel Maoz began his testimony at the Jerusalem District Court, his brother left the courtroom, preventing the accused Maoz from pointing out his twin as the murderer.

Maoz told the court of his long addiction to gambling and how in the past he faked a violent burglary at his parents’ home in order to steal money from them. He confessed to the deception a day later and returned the money, but remained in the grip of a gambling vice that saw him accumulating debts of hundreds of thousands of shekels.

Maoz, who told the court that he was bisexual, claimed that his brother had accused him of being a pedophile after alleging he found material on his computer, and he subsequently lived in fear of his brother making the secret public.

Maoz’s two brothers and sister say it was Daniel who committed the murders and reject his claims that it was actually Nir.