Police claim new evidence against suspect in murder of two wives

Shimon Cooper allegedly poisoned his first and third spouses, made it look like suicide

The Kfar Saba Magistrates Court on Sunday extended by eight days the remand of Shimon Cooper, suspected in the murder of two former wives — in 1994 and 2009 — after the police said they had obtained new evidence of Cooper’s guilt.

Justice Aharon Goldes stated at the hearing that he complied with the request of the investigation to further hold the suspect, as there was a real danger of obstruction of justice. However, he granted only half of the 15-day extension requested by the police.

On Thursday the police remanded Maria Zkotsky, a female anesthesiologist suspected of assisting Cooper, her lover, in the murder of his third wife.

It was revealed at the Sunday hearing that the police arranged a confrontation between the two suspects, during which Zkotsky accused Cooper of soliciting anesthetic drugs from her.

Cooper’s two wives died 15 years apart, and police initially ruled both their deaths to be suicides by an overdose of sleeping pills. However, in 2010, the Channel 2 news investigative program “Uvda” (“Fact”) featured the case in a 30-minute segment, highlighting suspicion-provoking similarities in the circumstances of the two women’s deaths.

After the program was aired, the daughters of Jenny Mor-Haim — Cooper’s third wife, who died in 2009 — turned to attorney Zvika Avnon, requesting that he launch an independent investigation into the circumstances of their mother’s death. Avnon’s findings precipitated the reopening of the police investigation.

Zkotsky, Cooper’s lover, was arrested last week on suspicion of providing her partner with the drugs he allegedly used to stage the suicide of his third wife. Cooper was detained the following day, when he arrived at the police station to inquire after his partner.

At the close of the hearing, the suspect reiterated that he was innocent. He then turned to the reporters present, saying “Thank you, Ilana Dayan [presenter of ‘Uvda’] for destroying my life and my family. I haven’t done anything, I’m innocent.”