Beersheba stabber indicted for murder

The teenager accused of stabbing a man to death in a Beersheba park earlier this month was indicted on Thursday for murder, carrying a knife, and obstruction of justice.

Eden Ohayon, 18, is accused of murdering Gadi Vichman, 35, in a late night assault after Vichman asked Ohayon and his friends, who were making noise outside his home, to be more quiet.

Earlier in the week doubts were raised as to whether Ohayon could be charged with murder rather than manslaughter as it emerged that Vichman struck the first blow.

According to the indictment Vichman initiated the violence by headbutting Ohayon. As Vichman’s wife and daughter watched from the window of their apartment, Ohayon pulled out a kitchen knife he kept concealed in his pants and stabbed Vichman in the chest. The father of two collapsed on the spot and died of his wounds.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Ohayon’s defense attorney, Rotem Tubol, expressed surprise at the murder charge.

“It can’t be a case of murder because according to the indictment itself, it seems the victim headbutted first,” she said. “I’m amazed that the state prosecutor decided to charge my client with murder and not manslaughter.”

Vichman’s wife Michal Levi expressed her satisfaction with the severity of the charge.

“As far as I am concerned it was always murder,” she said, breaking down in tears. “When my daughter and I saw in front of our eyes how Gadi was stabbed, we had no doubt that it was murder.”

The trial is scheduled to begin on June 7 at the Beersheba District Court.