The detention of three members of Shuvu Banim for suspected involvement in two 30-year-old murder cases was extended for eight days on Sunday afternoon.

The three suspects are being charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping for extortion and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The police requested from the court to extend the suspects’ detention due to fear that they will disrupt the investigation, Kan News reported. A police spokesperson said that an undercover investigation that was carried out over a long period of time discovered evidence that substantiates the suspicions. “These are complex operations that require resources and time,” the spokesperson said.

The report added that the police are investigating whether Shuvu Banim leader Rabbi Eliezer Berland is personally connected to the two murders, with the suspicion being that he ordered his followers to perpetrate the crimes.

Meir Shitrit, the brother of victim Nissim Shitrit, 17, told Reshet Bet that Nissim, who was beaten up by a group of Shuvu Banim members several months before his disappearance, had filed a complaint with the police. The family began receiving threats from Shuvu Banim members that Nissim should withdraw his complaint. Shortly later, Nissim disappeared. In a 2020 Kan documentary, one of Berland’s former followers said that the Mishmeres HaTznius murdered Nissim, dismembered him and buried his body parts in the Eshtaoel Forest near Beit Shemesh.

The judge said in his decision that there was a reasonable suspicion that the first suspect played a part in the two murders. He was actually arrested immediately after the disappearance of Shitrit and interrogated but was ultimately released due to lack of evidence. The suspect completely denied having any part in the crimes, saying during the hearing: “Have anyone seen me [commit the crimes] with their eyes? Whoever saw me should tell me now.”

The lawyer for the female suspect said that her client admitted her role in one of the murder cases. “She said that they asked her to lure a certain man and bring him to a certain place.”

“I was forced by Rabbi Berland’s people,” the suspect told interrogators, Channel 13 News reported. “They asked me to call the boy Nissim Shitrit and lure him to come to a certain place. When he arrived there, there were other people there and I already don’t know what happened. They’re evil people.”

The second male suspect said: “I know many things but I won’t reveal anything.” The judge ruled that although he denied any role in the murders or remained silent, from time to time he said things that tied him to the events surrounding the murders and therefore he extended his detention as well.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)