Days after entering prison to serve a sentence for accepting bribes, exploitation, attempted extortion, tax evasion, and money laundering, leader of the Shuvu Banim Hassidic sect Rabbi Eliezer Berland admitted a connection to two 30-year-old murder cases, then fainted in court, Israel National News reported.
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Berland's wife, Tehila, was also detained for questioning.
According to the report, Berland connected himself to the murders of Nissim Shitrit and Avi Edri in 1986 and 1990, respectively. In mid-October, three suspects – two men and a woman, all in their 60s – were arrested in connection with the killings, police reported after a gag order was lifted.
Shitrit, a resident of Jerusalem who was a student at a yeshiva in Ashdod, disappeared in January 1986 and was last seen in the car of a person known as Mike, whom he had met a week earlier. A few weeks before he vanished, Shitrit filed a police complaint that he had been abducted and severely beaten by the Shuvu Banim modesty squads after they accused him of having relationships with girls.
Edri, who was 41 at the time of his death, worked as a taxi driver and a maintenance man at Shuvu Banim Yeshiva. His body was found in Ramot Forest and bore signs of violence. He was murdered after a night out with his wife. Even at the time of his murder, police thought he had been killed by members of the modesty patrol, who suspected him of involvement with married Haredi women.
While Berland was being questioned on Monday, a group of his followers held a protest outside the police station at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem.
Also on Monday, police arrested two additional suspects in the affair, both residents of Jerusalem. The two, one of whom in in his 60s and the second in his 70s, were questioned by the Major Crimes Unit of the Jerusalem District Police. The Jerusalem Magistrates Court has extended their remand until Thursday.
Police suspect that one of the suspects served as a driver for a woman who is suspected of involvement in Shitrit's disappearance.
As developments in the long-cold cases continue to emerge, police have made a number of arrests. Last week, Channel 12 News reported that one of the suspects has agreed in writing to cooperate with police and supply them with incriminating evidence against other suspects in exchange for reduced charges against himself, as well as more lenient sentencing.
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