Man sentenced to life behind bars for 2022 murder of woman who rejected his romantic advances

The Lod District Court sentences Jason Blaise Odeh to life in prison for stabbing 27-year-old Yelena Greenberg to death in Rehovot on August 24, 2022, after she rejected his repeated romantic advances.

Odeh and Greenberg had been acquainted for about four years before he stabbed her multiple times in his mother’s car and left her body in a field, having doused it with gasoline but decided against burning it, according to the ruling.

Odeh then drove home, and on his way disposed of his and Greenberg’s cellphones and of the victim’s computer, the court said. He was arrested the next day.

Odeh admitted to his actions but denied they were premeditated, arguing instead that he entered a fugue state after Greenberg “provoked” him.

The court rejected Odeh’s account, noting that he had equipped himself with a blade and gasoline and disposed of evidence, which the court said showed Odeh had “made a cold and calculated decision” to kill Greenberg.

Odeh’s accounts of Greenberg’s behavior and of his own mental state were also rejected.

In addition to jail time, Odeh is ordered to pay the victim’s family NIS 258,000 ($84,105), the maximum restitution under the law.

During the trial, the court heard from Greenberg’s mother Tatiana that Yelena was “a child of nature who loved animals and wanted to make the world a better place.”

Yelena received posthumous honors from the Peres Academic Center, where she was a student, the mother said.

The victim’s sister Nadia Aminov told the court that their father passed away two years after Yelena’s murder, and that Yelena now has a niece she will never know.