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Poland extradites suspected robber of Ashkelon graves |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Tuesday, 27 July 2004 |
By Yuval Azoulai
Polish police have extradited Ashkelon resident Igor Chechlenisky to Israel over suspicion that he was involved in exhuming two bodies buried in Ashkelon's southern cemetery, in what police here believe was an elaborate attempt to stage his own death and the death of his brother, Alexander.
Ashkelon police say that the two brothers, who were about to start prison terms for involvement in various fraudulent schemes, robbed the graves of two recently-deceased people, dressed them in their own clothing and, leaving their identity cards nearby, tried to set fire to the bodies. They were interrupted, however, by passersby, and were unable to carry out their macabre plan.
Days later, the two disappeared and Israeli police launched an international manhunt. At the end of last week, Polish police extradited Igor Chechlenisky and the gag order that had been imposed on the case was lifted yesterday. Police are still unable to locate Alexander Chechlenisky, who is believed to be out of the country.
Police suspect the Chechlenisky brothers of trying to stage their deaths to avoid being interrogated for involvement in fraudulent activities. Ashkelon police investigators were questioning Chechlenisky in the case this week, but he was not cooperating. His remand was extended yesterday by 12 days.
Shocking sight
Even the most veteran officers from the Lakhish District were shocked by the sight that greeted them in March 1999, when they received a call from an employee of the Ashkelon burial society, reporting the finding of the two bodies. Given the lack of signs of violence on the bodies, police concluded that they had been exhumed one week after burial. Various possible avenues of inquiry were pursued, including suspicions that the bodies were used as part of a diabolical ritual or by a necrophiliac.
The discovery of the brothers' ID cards, however, led police to the truth. The brothers had been sentenced several days earlier to jail terms of 6 and 18 months, but the judge had agreed to defer the start of their incarceration by one week. Once it became clear that the brothers had skipped the country, Israeli police issued an international arrest warrant and alerted Interpol.
If Igor Chechlenisky had hoped to start a new life in Poland, he was to be disappointed.
He was arrested, under a different identity, for involvement in various theft and fraud cases, and was sentenced to three years behind bars. Last week, when he completed his term, Polish police notified their Israeli colleagues.
`Sick mind'
The head of the Ashkelon police station, Chief Superintendent Eitan Gadasi, said yesterday that the suspect had not implicated himself in the crime, but would have to provide police with a convincing explanation of how his ID card came to be found adjacent to the exhumed bodies.
"Only a very sick mind could come up with a plan like this," said Gadasi. "This is a particularly grisly crime, which was highly traumatic for the families affected."
Police intend to charge Chechlenisky with arson, conspiracy to commit a crime and desecrating a holy place, in addition to the sentence he still has to serve from before he and his brother fled the country.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/456916.html |
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