Father indicted for murder of his 2 children

The State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment Sunday against a man who admitted to the murder of his two children in the central Israeli village of Yashresh last month, and requested the extension of his remand until the end of proceedings.

Avraham Levi is suspected of blindfolding, then slitting the throats of his 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter on June 11, with a knife he had purchased a day earlier.

Afterward, Levi walked into the police station in the nearby city of Ramle and admitted that he had killed the kids, reportedly to torment his ex-wife, saying he did it “so that their mother’s life would be over.”

The mother and the children were dual US-Israeli citizens. The two children arrived for a visit in Israel a day before they were killed.

The children’s funeral took place in Columbus, Ohio, where the mother resides.

Domestic violence complaints were lodged against Levi in 2005 and in 2009, before the couple divorced. The wife had also spent time in a battered women’s shelter before the divorce was finalized.

The ex-wife gained main custody of the children and, because the husband could not provide child support, decided to move to the US. The suspect was unsuccessful in fighting his ex-wife’s intention to leave the country but succeeded in securing twice-yearly visits.

While searching the man’s residence, police discovered a journal in which the suspect had “obsessively” recorded his feelings and actions, especially in regard to his ex-wife.