Man convicted of 2004 murder of drug dealer gets retrial

The State Attorney’s Office on Sunday announced the retrial of a man convicted for a 2004 murder in the coastal city of Netanya, following the revelation that key recordings that could exonerate him were not filed as evidence in the original trial.

Victor Guetta was convicted of murdering drug dealer Yitzhak “Izu” Schwartz and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007.

A major piece of evidence in the prosecution’s case was that Guetta told details of the crime, which it was said only the killer could have known, to a jailhouse informant he was sharing a cell with.

However, in the course of an investigation into a separate case, the 2004 Netanya murder of Doron Seroussi, recordings were discovered that revealed a prisoner held with Guetta had read about the case in a local newspaper and told him details of the investigation.

The murders of Schwartz and Seroussi were investigated by separate teams, and according to the State Attorney’s Office, the recordings were mistakenly only submitted as evidence in the Seroussi case, and not also in the Schwartz investigation.

A 2009 appeal by Guetta against his conviction was unanimously rejected by the Supreme Court, as was his request for a further hearing.

In 2015, the state prosecution said the recordings were handed over to Guetta’s defense team when it was realized the evidence had not been submitted in the trial. In 2018, a request for a retrial was filed and on Sunday it was agreed that it would take place.

State prosecutors were careful to note that they believe Guetta’s conviction is solid and that there is a definitive weight of evidence in favor of a conviction. Therefore, they said, they are agreeing to a retrial in the belief that Guetta will be convicted of the murder for a second time.

Guetta remains in custody until the retrial due to the serious nature of the crime he was convicted of, as well as his criminal record prior to the conviction.