Bank bandit given life in prison for murdering security guard

The Lod District Court sentences Gabi Korsonsky, 35, to a life sentence plus an additional 18 years in prison for a series of high-profile bank robberies as well as the murder of a security guard during one of the thefts.

He is also ordered to pay NIS 258,000 ($72,000) in damages to the family of his victim, Yaniv Engler.

Korsonsky murdered Engler when the bank securty guard tried to stop him from entering and robbing a bank in Be’er Yaakov, near the central city of Lod, in 2011.

Korsonsky was convicted in October 2017 of Engler’s murder, as well as 14 robberies, illegal firearm possession and use on multiple occasions, and opening fire in a residence.

In their sentence, the judges wrote: “The defendant carried out a cruel murder, taking the life of a young man who tried to do his duty toward the customers and employees of the bank. As if that were not enough, after causing the senseless death of Yaniv Engler, the defendant calmly continued to carry out his plan, robbing the bank for sheer greed.”