Third suspect held in murder of Jerusalem couple

Police on Tuesday arrested a third suspect in the double murder last month of a married couple in Jerusalem.

Yehuda Kaduri, 71, and his wife Tamar, 68, were found stabbed to death in their apartment in the capital’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood on January 13, in what was initially suspected to have been a terror attack.

Police have since pursued a domestic criminal motive, arresting two relatives of the victims, a husband and wife, earlier this month.

The third suspect arrested Tuesday is the brother of one of the suspects, according to Hebrew media reports.

Most details of the case are barred from publication under a gag order.

Also Tuesday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ordered the male suspect held in custody another eight days. His wife, who is suspected of being an accessory to the crime, was ordered held for another six days.

The suspected couple’s attorney has denied they were connected to the killings.

In early February, police appeared to hit a dead end in their search for the killer when a Jerusalem court ordered the release of the sole suspect initially held in the case, a Palestinian man who worked in the area.

But the investigation later took a new turn, with police questioning people who knew the Kaduris, including employees at Yehuda Kaduri’s accounting firm, as well as family members.

Shortly after the couple was found dead, a family friend told reporters last month that Yehuda, a successful accountant, had been taking care of his wife in recent years.

Their neighbor said people felt something wasn’t right when Yehuda did not show up at synagogue for Shabbat prayers on Saturday morning. “He would normally say ahead of time that he would be missing,” the neighbor told reporters. “He had a heart of gold.”

The victims’ daughter reportedly had been unable to contact her parents for a few days and finally called emergency services, who broke open the door to the apartment on Mordechai Elkahi Street. Medics pronounced their deaths at the scene.

The couple is survived by three children.