Josiah Leitel: Man arrested for beating wife to death with hammer while children slept nearby
HAIFA, ISRAEL: Police have detained a man who is accused of brutally beating his wife to death with a hammer while their kids slept in the same apartment. In Haifa, Israel, on March 17, Josiah Leitel, 35, allegedly told police that he and his 31-year-old wife Darya Leitel got into a fight when he returned from his work at a nightclub around 5 am and started drinking.
Then, when his wife allegedly pushed him, he became furious, according to the local media. He reportedly choked her first, then beat her with a hammer. Three of the couple's daughters were sound asleep in their rooms, just a few feet away.
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'I didn't mean to kill her'
"I work in a nightclub. I came back around 5am completely sober. I was sitting and drinking beer. One of our daughters woke up and my wife woke up, too," Leitel reportedly told officers. "She saw me drinking and got angry at me. She asked, 'Are you drinking again?'. An argument started. She pushed me and then I pushed her back. I didn't mean to kill her."
As per Yahoo News, Leitel contacted the police and paramedics after the alleged assault, and they pronounced Darya dead on the spot. "When they fought, he would leave the house and move to a different neighbourhood," Darya's father Antoine reportedly told local media. "She was with me last week and didn't tell me there was a problem. She was the smiliest in the world. I don't understand what happened to my daughter. She didn't tell me there was violence. She wanted to leave him and for that, he murdered her. I don't have a daughter now. It's awful."
Local media reported that Leitel had reportedly threatened to murder his wife in the past when the couple was referred to welfare services in 2021. "The couple was referred to social services in 2021 as a result of a relationship crisis," the head of the Welfare Administration, Meira Kiperman, said. "The couple was treated throughout that year by social services on a number of levels."
'She didn't get the things she deserved'
One of Darya's acquaintances, Daniella Mazor, claimed she was having trouble processing her friend's death. "I saw it on the news and I came over here hoping it wasn't her. Yesterday she was at my place until 7pm. There was no concern that something would happen to her otherwise I would never have allowed her to leave and I would have told her to stay at my place."
Daniella said that Darya, who had been a student of psychology and Spanish, was "a wonderful person, a dedicated mother to her three daughters and beautiful outside and in." Daniella added: "She knew that a breakup wouldn't be easy, and she said she would do it soon." She was even looking for a new home. I didn't know the suspect, the relationship between them wasn't normal. She didn't get the things she deserved, but she stayed for the girls. I didn't like the quality of life she was living with. She knew she had to leave her husband but was looking for the right timing."