Jerusalem District Court keeps Linor Sasson in custody in Benayahu Razi murder case

The court declined to release Sasson to house arrest at this stage but ordered the Probation Service to submit an assessment within 30 days. Her detention will be reconsidered at an October hearing.

The Jerusalem District Court ruled Tuesday that Linor Sasson will remain in custody for now, finding preliminary evidence supporting charges that she helped members of the group accused of murdering Benayahu Razi flee after the attack and obstructed the investigation.

The court declined to release Sasson to house arrest at this stage but ordered the Probation Service to submit an assessment within 30 days. Her detention will be reconsidered at a hearing on October 22.

Sasson, 46, is the mother of Avior Sasson, one of four minors charged with Razi’s murder. She is not accused of participating in the killing itself.

Her attorney sought her release to house arrest under electronic monitoring, arguing that she faces the lesser charges of assisting after the fact and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors opposed her immediate release, citing her criminal record, but agreed that the Probation Service could examine a possible alternative to detention.

A finding of preliminary evidence does not determine guilt; it rather only means that the court found sufficient support for the charges at this stage of the detention proceedings. The main trial has not yet begun.

Seven indicted for different roles in killing

Seven people were indicted in August, but prosecutors accuse them of different roles in the killing.

Agam Tzarfati, 19, of Jerusalem, Shilat Huta, 20, of Beersheba, and four minors aged approximately 15 to 17 were charged with murder and aggravated assault. Prosecutors allege that the six decided together to attack Razi and his friend, while the four minors carried out the physical assault that killed him.

According to the indictments, the group gathered at Sasson’s home after Tzarfati and Huta said Razi and his friend had attacked them during an earlier dispute.

Prosecutors allege that Sasson later drove the group toward the rented apartment in Jerusalem’s Nachlaot neighborhood where Razi was staying. The indictment states that she warned them not to do anything.

After the attack, Sasson allegedly helped members of the group flee. Those allegations form the basis of the charges against her.

Razi, 19, was stabbed to death in the apartment on July 11. His friend was also attacked and wounded.

Tzarfati and Huta remain in custody pending a hearing on October 19. Their attorneys intend to argue that the prosecution has not presented sufficient preliminary evidence to support the murder charges against them.

The four minors also remain in custody, with their next hearing scheduled for November.