Dutch court overturns conviction in 1990 murder of Israeli woman
2 years after authorities in the Netherlands jail Israeli national for fatal stabbing of Miriam Sharon, appeals court strikes down guilty verdict due to lack of evidence
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A Dutch court on Friday reportedly overturned the murder conviction of an Israeli man accused of murdering an Israeli woman in The Hague nearly 30 years ago.
Dutch media reports said judges accepted the appeal mounted by 57-year-old Daniel Amunah, striking down his 2017 conviction for the murder of Miriam Sharon due to lack of evidence. The Hague appeals court reportedly released Amunah from custody Friday.
Sharon, 39, was found stabbed to death in her apartment in The Hague in 1990. Amunah, a Petah Tikva native with a history of property and drug-related crimes, was briefly considered a suspect directly after Sharon’s death but was released due to lack of evidence.
Years later, Dutch police re-opened the cold case, and uncovered DNA evidence linking Amunah to the scene on a cigarette butt, a pair of scissors and a black leather jacket.
Amunah was re-arrested in 2016 upon entering the Netherlands based on the newly discovered evidence.
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In October 2017, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for Sharon’s murder. Prosecutors said during the trial they believed a second Israeli man was involved, but police never managed to identify the suspect.
Throughout his trial, Amunah declined to speak, and his alleged motive for killing Sharon as well as the nature of their relationship remains unclear.
After Amunah’s conviction was struck down, Sharon’s daughter slammed the court’s decision, telling Dutch media outlets Friday that nobody had contacted her family to explain the court’s decision.
“Its not fair,” she told reporters. “We’ve been through so much, and now its feels like the last three years have been for nothing.”
Sharon left Israel in 1979 for the Netherlands, where she settled and married a local artist. She had two children with the artist before the couple separated in the 1980s.
Amunah has been in and out of jail in Israel since he was 17, according to Hebrew-language reports. He completed his last stretch in 2014.
The Times of Israel Community.