Twelve years after 13-year-old Tair Rada was murdered in a bathroom stall at her school in Katzrin on the Golan Heights, shocking the nation, new forensic evidence has surfaced that could turn the case upside down.
One of three hairs found on Rada's body has been identified as possibly belonging to a suspect known by the initials A.H. or one of A.H.'s relatives. A.H. is the ex-boyfriend of O.K., a woman who has been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness. A few years after the murder, A.H. told police that O.K. had confessed to him that she killed Rada and that she had been wearing his clothes when she committed the murder.
In 2010, Roman Zadorov, who was working construction at Rada's school, was convicted of the murder and is currently serving a life sentence. The conviction was upheld in a 2014 appeal and again in an appeal to the Supreme Court in December 2015.
In the Supreme Court ruling, two justices voted to uphold the conviction and a third dissented.
Earlier in the case, the hairs were sent to an American lab for analysis, ruling out Zadorov. More recently, Zadorov's attorney Yarom Halevi asked to retest the hairs and compare them to O.K.'s and A.H.'s DNA.
Despite Zadorov's conviction, some believe he confessed under duress and that the real murderer may still be on the loose.
"O.K. is the murderer and there needs to be a retrial and Zadorov must be released from prison right now," Halevi declared.
"Of the many hairs that were found on Rada's body, one was found to belong to A.H. From a legal perspective, that is 100% [conclusive]. The moment it was found to belong to A.H., it was legally apparent that O.K. is the murderer. That is why I requested that the sample be compared to A.H.'s DNA."
Dr. Nurit Bublil, head of the DNA lab at the Israel National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir added that the institute had received two new samples that were tested more broadly than previous ones. "Future developments could lead to more tests," she said.
Touching on the new findings, prosecutors in the case said: "Remember, at the time, three hairs were discovered at the scene that did not match Roman Zadorov's genetic profile. The hairs had no roots, so the only test that could be run on them was a test for mitochondrial DNA [which is passed on through the mother]."
According to Halevi, police investigators used Zadorov as a scapegoat.
"Unfortunately," Halevi said, "the investigators found a convenient victim and were able to close the case, and the prosecution went along with it. Senior officials in the State Attorney's Office told me that there was a big drama. What I understand as a litigator, and what the prosecution refuses to accept, is that Roman now has to be released. O.K. is the murderer and she is traveling abroad, and that's on the prosecution. I've been shouting it for six months, but the prosecution hasn't lifted a finger."
O.K. was questioned during the original investigation and was ruled out as a suspect. However, two weeks ago, a young woman appeared at the police station in Nazareth Illit and told police that O.K. had also confessed to her that she had murdered Rada.
When asked about the latest testimony, the prosecution said "Without addressing the content of the investigations already carried out, we will say that every report on this matter was looked into, including the reports about confessions by O.K. and others, and that version [of events] in which she was involved has been rejected as untruthful."
"It was concluded, also, that it is impossible to rule out that O.K. told various people that she was the murderer, as a result of the mental illness she suffered from. In this context we must note that no new evidence has been found, even now, that suggests that the story is true."
Supreme Court Justice (ret.) Yoram Danziger, who wrote the dissenting opinion when Zadorov's case was appealed to the Supreme Court in 2015, said Friday that there was a "decent chance" that there could be another phase to the case and a retrial.
Danziger addressed the new developments at an event at Tel Aviv University. "I swore I wouldn't discuss the case, especially after what happened [Thursday]," Danziger said, referring to the new evidence.
"I will say that two months ago, when I refused to talk about it, I explained that there was a decent chance that the case would move into a new phase and there would be a retrial. It is inappropriate for a retired judge to express an opinion about whether the majority [of the judges on the panel] was correct, or whether the minority was."
"I assume that if we get to the stage of a retrial, all the questions will be answered," Danziger said.
Predictably, the new evidence sparked a flurry of responses from the Rada family. Ilana Rada, Tair's mother, said she was "shocked."
"It's very difficult, but there's one thing I know – that when all this is over, it's important to us to find the murderer. I'm upset that a hair containing DNA that was A.H.'s, not Zadorov's, was found on Tair's body. I hope that this time, the prosecution and the police and the court won't lie to the citizens of Israel, especially me. We've been fighting for 12 years to bring Tair's real killer to justice."
"I don't think that after the emergence of evidence like this, anyone can ignore the doubt, and I have a feeling that this time the case will be re-opened," she said. "I haven't been in contact with Zadorov's wife, Olga, and I was never willing to contact her, because I had no interest in Zadorov being released without forensic evidence proving that someone else was the killer."
Zadorov's family was excited to hear about the new evidence. His son said, "I'm not too optimistic, but I hope that dad will be released, and now I believe that might happen."
Zadorov's mother-in-law added, "We got lucky today, and I hope that he'll be home [soon]. We've been waiting for this for 12 years."
O.K., who is currently abroad, addressed the latest findings in an interview to Hadshot News, in which she denied any involvement in the murder.
"I have nothing to do with it … I want them to leave me alone. The incident has nothing to do with me," she said.
O.K.'s attorney Daniel Haklai told Hadshot News that "This is indeed dramatic evidence, and it's difficult to give an unequivocal response before I look at it thoroughly. In her confessions to the murder, O.K. never gave any details that only the killer would know, like where the body was found or where on the body the cuts were.
"Until this evening, we had written confirmation from the head of the criminal department in the State Attorney's office that there was no scientific evidence linking O.K. to the affair or to the crime scene itself. As a defense attorney, I'm arguing that it is never possible to know if something is 100% certain. We can only prove [or disprove] beyond a reasonable doubt," Haklai said.
"My recommendation to suspects is to always cooperate with the police and show up for questioning, and I'm convinced that she [O.K.] will take my recommendation and appear before the police when she returns to Israel, if she is asked to. In addition, I must underscore that this is evidence that connects a different person [to the crime]," Haklai said.
Director of the Israel National Center of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, Dr. Chen Kugel, said that the institute had conducted mitochondrial DNA testing on the hairs found on Rada's body to various other genetic profiles.
"The tests were carried out multiple times to verify them, and new evidence has been found that was previously unknown. We don't intend to assign any meaning to this, and are leaving the legalistic aspects to the courts," Kugel said.
The State Attorney's Office said, "The Institute for Forensic Medicine reported that none of the hairs was a match to O.K. and that one of the three was a match for A.H.'s mitochondrial DNA. That match means that A.H. is one of a large group that includes an undetermined number of people who could be a match for the hair that was found. The result of the tests will be examined by the prosecution to check whether they are significant at all and what evidentiary weight the evidence carries."
Meanwhile, the Public Defender's Office said it "welcomed the new forensic discovery, which strengthens the argument for Roman Zadorov's innocence. In recent years, the Public Defender's Office has been fighting to prevent and rectify wrongful convictions."
"There are issues in Zadorov's case that raise suspicion that the conviction is based on false confessions and unreliable scientific evidence, the problematic nature of a conviction by a majority, and the extent of the establishment's willingness to examine itself."
"We hope that in this case, the truth will come to light. This is an opportunity to rethink and make important changes that will prevent the terrible injustice of innocent people being convicted," the office said.
