Family of Briton found dead in Eilat releases grisly photo in bid to reopen case
Relatives of Julie Pearson reject autopsy findings, insist she was raped and beaten to death by her Palestinian boyfriend last year
Tamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
The family of a Scottish woman who was found dead in Eilat last year released a graphic photo of her battered body to dispute Israeli claims she died of natural causes.
Julie Pearson, 38, died on November 27, 2015, in the southern city’s Dolphin Hotel hours after she was allegedly raped and beaten by her Palestinian boyfriend, Amjab Hatib.
On Sunday, Pearson’s family released a distressing photograph of the Kinross woman lying in a coffin with multiple cuts and bruises on her face.
According to Scotland’s Daily Record, pathologists at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv determined Pearson’s cause of death was internal bleeding, but called the hemorrhaging “spontaneous.”
Her relatives, however, are convinced Pearson was murdered, and accuse Israeli police of mishandling the investigation by failing to follow up with key witnesses and by ignoring Hatib’s history of violent assaults.
Undertakers in Scotland listed a number of marks on Pearson’s body, including a large bruise to her right shoulder, bruises to her chest, elbows, arms and torso, as well as to her face, the report said.
Pearson’s mother, Margaret, said publicizing the image of her daughter’s bruised body was difficult, but felt it was the only way to kick-start a fresh investigation.
“We did not want anyone to see Julie like this,” she told the paper. “But we feel we have no other choice but to let the world see the injuries my daughter sustained as we try to get to the truth of how Julie died.
“I haven’t been able to rest since seeing what had been done to her. The black bruises to her face and body were horrific,” she added. “There is no way she died from natural causes.”
Hatib, Pearson’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, was jailed for a month over a previous assault on Pearson. After Pearson’s death he fled the resort city, and was eventually arrested by police, but was released in January on bail, pending the results of the autopsy.
According to the report, Pearson’s friends said Hatib beat her the day before she died, and that on another occasion, he and two friends beat her when she threatened to report his abuse to police again.
“Julie went to one female friend and told her that she was in terrible pain from a beating Hatib had given her the day before she died,” Pearson’s aunt Deborah told the news website.
“She told her friend she felt sick and dizzy and promised to report Hatib to the police a second time,” she said. “Julie’s friends went to the Dolphin [hotel] and were both told by another witness he could hear Julie begging for help because she was being raped and beaten, but nobody intervened.”
Pearson’s former employer also corroborated reports of Hatib’s abuse, and said he spoke to a man at the time who heard screams coming from her room around the time of her death.
Pearson’s family suspect the police mishandled the investigation and closed the case prematurely in part because she was in Israel on an expired tourist visa.
“The police investigation has been a complete shambles. I went to Eilat a few weeks ago and found witnesses the police did not even question. We have been badly let down by everyone involved in this case. They should hang their heads in shame for their failings,” Deborah Pearson said.
She said the family was speaking with an Israeli attorney to press charges against the Israel Police as well as Hatib.
“This is not over. We will not allow it to be over until we have the answers we need,” she told the paper.
Eitan Na’eh, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, met with members of the Pearson family in recent weeks and promised to help them get to the truth.
