Friends, neighbors ‘in shock’ over deaths of 4 sisters, mother in suspected murder-suicide

Friends, acquaintances and neighbors of a mother suspected of murdering her four daughters on Sunday before killing herself in their Jerusalem apartment expressed their horror and disbelief at the tragedy, as police worked to determine the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The gruesome discovery of the five bodies was made when rescuers responded to a fire that broke out in their top-floor apartment on Hebron Road in the south of the capital, late Sunday afternoon.

Four fire-fighting teams responded to the call, entering the locked apartment through the balcony before discovering the lifeless body of 36-year-old mother. A quick scan of the apartment led the firefighters to a locked bedroom from which smoke was emanating and where they found the bodies of four children, ranging in age from early teenage years to infancy or possible toddlerhood. According to an initial probe, the mother hanged herself and the children died of serious burns and smoke inhalation.

The bodies of the children were sent to the Abu Kabir forensic institute amid suspicions the mother may have strangled them to death before setting fire to the room.

The husband arrived at the scene about half an hour after the emergency services. A spokesperson for the United Hatzalah rescue organization said the father was being treated by a psychotrauma team. It was not clear where he was at the time of the fire.

There were conflicting reports on the ages of the children. According to Ynet, the eldest girl was 11 years old, followed by a nine-year-old, a four-year-old and an infant of 11 months. Other reports said there were two 12-year-old girls, a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old.

The names of the children and the parents, immigrants to Israel from France, were not released to the public.

A neighbor told Ynet that the “family had made aliyah from France 13 years ago, the children were born here. The mom always looked to be a strong, assertive woman.”

Another neighbor said he had seen the mother and daughters playing in an adjacent park the day before and everything seemed normal.

A friend of the family, who gave Ynet the first name Shmuel, said the family was “exceptional,” describing the mother a “brilliant, caring and warm.”

“They always looked to be a couple raising their children with a lot of love. The community here is in shock,” he said.

A former teacher of one of the daughters said the girls were “amazing pupils, they were happy, sociable girls.”

“They were good parents, a lovely family. I would never have thought that something like this could happen [to them]. It just shows that we have to be more alert. After all, this was a completely normal family that maybe had a few difficulties. It’s really unbelievable,” she said.

A friend of the father, said to be an optometrist, described a man who was hard-working and dedicated; he rejected any notion that the tragedy could have been related to financial difficulties.

“He didn’t have financial difficulties, I am sure of it. He worked hard and made a good living,” said Niv Philipsborn, adding that at times where he brought his daughters to work, “he looked like a doting father.”

“Those who know him are certain that whatever happened there had nothing to do with him, and it looks like he couldn’t prevent it,” he said.

Hebrew language media reported that the woman had been receiving psychiatric treatment, but there was no confirmation of the reports.

One unnamed person who works with immigrants from France said the couple were well-known in the French-Israeli community in Jerusalem.

“There is massive shock, people who are asking themselves, ‘how did we not see,’ ‘how did we not know.’ These are relevant questions. We need to ask to what extent welfare authorities were in the picture,” said the source, adding that perhaps the couple’s integration into Israeli society had an impact on the mother’s mental health.

“This [incident] will demand from us, the organizations who work with olim from France, a lot of attention,” he said.

In a statement, the Jerusalem municipality said the family was not known to social services and were never attended to by welfare workers.

The municipality noted that the mother had contacted her local social welfare center three months ago, asking for information about babysitting services.

Workers told the woman that the municipality does not provide babysitters, but, sensing that perhaps there was an underlying issue with the children, suggested that the mother come into the center to learn about services available to her. However, the woman did not come in and there was further contact from her, the city said in a statement.

Jerusalem firefighter Arik Abuluf described the scene when rescuers first arrived.

“We found her lying on the floor. The room that the children were in was completely burned and because it was close, the flames used up the oxygen.”

“It was the most difficult thing I have seen in all my years in the fire service,” he added.

Rescuers said the woman’s body was found on a balcony outside the apartment. Neighbors who saw her body hanging on the balcony called the emergency services and were advised by them to access the balcony and cut her down. They were not able to enter the apartment, which was locked from the inside, and waited until firefighters reached the scene and broke open the door.

Shalom Klein, a volunteer with the Zaka search and rescue organization, called the scene “shocking.”

“I arrived at the scene of the fire and the neighbors brought me to the apartment balcony. The mother was dead. Her four children were burned to death. ZAKA Jerusalem volunteers are dealing with the bodies and collecting the remains,” Klein said.