Man indicted for attempted murder of his wife in front of infant son

A man was charged Monday with the attempted murder of his wife in a brutal attack last month, in which he allegedly repeatedly stabbed and beat her in the presence of their toddler child.

Aviad Moshe, 45, is accused of stabbing his wife, Shira, 20 times as well as hitting her with a rolling pin and strangling her on the eve of the Rosh Hashanah holiday on September 18.

The attack occurred in the couple’s home in the southern town of Mitzpe Ramon, in the presence of their 1.5-year-old child.

According to the indictment Shira, 31, told her parents that she intended to celebrate the festival at their home without him, following a quarrel.

Shira, stabbed repeatedly and seriously wounded, allegedly by her husband Aviad Moshe, in an undated photo (Courtesy)

Aviad attacked her, throwing her to the floor in an assault witnessed by her parents during a video call.

Shira shouted at her husband that she intended to divorce him, and went into their room and packed a suitcase, at which point Aviad locked the front door of the house, refusing to let her leave with their son, and closed the shutters on the windows.

He took the boy from Shira’s arms and placed on him on the floor. As she turned to pick up the boy again, Aviad took a rolling pin and began beating her.

The indictment said he then began to strangle her, all while her parents remained on the video call and the child stood by, crying.

“Die already, you won’t be his mother,” Aviad said to his wife, as he sat on her and strangled her, the indictment read.

The indictment said that at that stage, neighbors heard the commotion and tried to enter but were unable to.

Aviad is accused of then taking a kitchen knife and stabbing his wife while continuing to beat her with the rolling pin.

Shira begged for her life, the indictment stated, saying: “Enough, Aviad, I am going to die.”

The indictment said that Aviad then ended the attack and opened the apartment door while holding the bloodstained knife, before taking the child into the bathroom where he remained until police arrived.

The home in Mitzpe Ramon where a husband stabbed his wife while she was on a video call with her parents on September 18, 2020. Screenshot/Channel 12

Shira was hospitalized in serious condition and underwent emergency surgery at Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center. Since then she has undergone multiple procedures to rebuild her face, Channel 12 reported.

A crowdfunding page set up to raise NIS 320,000 ($92,685) to “restore Shira’s smile” by paying for reconstruction surgery had already raised over NIS 1.4 million (approximately $408,000) in donations from over 12,000 people on Monday.

Police said they had a file on the couple after a previous incident of domestic violence in 2019. Shira’s brother said she had filed a complaint that she later withdrew after their respective families intervened and got them to reconcile.

The Beersheba District Court last week permitted the naming of Aviad Moshe after overturning a lower court ruling  that granted him anonymity to preserve his reputation, following days of outrage over the initial decision. Beersheba Magistrate’s Court Judge George Amorai accepting his argument that he should be given the opportunity to remain anonymous.

“They may find surprising things. It’s the easiest thing to ruin a reputation and a 45-year career. Give me this chance,” Moshe had asked the judge.

Lawyers for Shira had expressed outrage over the decision and in response to the ruling, a number of women’s groups and individuals published Moshe’s name and image online.

Police and social services organizations have reported a major rise in domestic violence complaints since the start of the coronavirus crisis. Recent months have seen several protests to demand government action to end violence against women.