An 18-year-old Tel Aviv woman and her boyfriend have been remanded over the murder of her twin sister on Thursday. Police say the pair confessed to the murder of Hili Sobol, whose bloodied body was found in the stairwell outside her fifth-floor apartment, but according to media reports both later retracted their confessions. Hili Sobol was killed around noon in Tel Aviv's Nahalat Yitzhak neighborhood. According to police, emergency services received a call that a woman had been murdered, and upon arriving at the scene found her with multiple stab wounds in the stairwell just outside her home at on the fifth floor. Hili's twin sister, Shiri Sobol, told police that Hili had received a call and then left their apartment to talk in the stairwell. Shiri Sobol said she heard screams, opened the door, and saw that her sister had been stabbed. She said she could only see the killer's back as he ran away. However, investigators soon realized that Shiri's story did not add up. They found the knife that had been used and bloodstained clothes inside the apartment, and suspected that Shiri Sobol and her boyfriend had cleaned the apartment to cover up evidence. Police then traced the call Hili Sobol had received as coming from the apartment, casting major doubt on Shiri Sobol's story. Police are investigating how Hili Sobol ended up in the stairwell and whether she was in the apartment before the murder. While Shiri Sobol initially claimed she had been alone with her twin in the apartment, police were surprised to learn that the boyfriend, David Eran, had been inside the apartment. As a result, they called off a manhunt for the killer. Due to the recent wave of terrorist attacks, Shin Bet security officials had been sent to the area until investigators could rule out terrorism. Police soon found out that Shiri Sobol had texted her friends that "Hili was stabbed" and sent them photos from the scene. They said that both Shiri Sobol and Erdan confessed and were subsequently arrested and taken to a nearby police station for further questioning. Shiri Sobol told police she often had fights with her sister, including on the day of the murder. However, Israeli news portal Mako said Shiri Sobol later retracted her confession. According to her lawyer, Gil Friedman, she denied any involvement in the murder and told investigators: "I didn't do it. I love my sister." David Eran also retracted his confession on Friday. According to the Walla new siste, he said he "saw someone stab Hili" and on the advice of his lawyer said he would not cooperate with investigators and would invoke his right to remain silent. Both suspects appeared Friday before the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court and had their remand extended by 10 days. Eran was charged with murder and Shiri Sobol was charged with being an accessory to murder and obstruction of justice. A Facebook post written by Hili Sobol just two days earlier was eerily predictive of what unfolded on Thursday. "Never trust people because everyone knows how to twist the knife. In short, everyone is a traitor," she wrote. She also added icons of knives and hearts. Shocked residents of the sisters' small street gathered near the apartment building after the murder. "I can't believe a murder was committed here. This just doesn't make sense," said a man who identified himself as Kobi. "They are just young girls. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary." Other neighbors said that the victim, who went to a nearby school, had trouble fitting into a structured educational setting and would often just wander around the neighborhood. Two years ago, she traveled to northern Israel and no one heard from her for a month. She only returned home after her disappearance was reported in the media.
Credit:Shmuel Buchris
"We saw a woman, roughly 20 years old, with no signs of life. We tried to resuscitate her but her injuries were severe, and we were left with no choice but to pronounce her dead at the scene," said one paramedic.
