The Supreme Court today (Thursday) rejected, by a majority of opinions, the appeal of Shimon Cooper on his conviction for the murder of two of his wives, the late Orit Cooper and the late Jenny Mor-Haim.
Judge Yosef Elron, who wrote the main opinion, ruled that the appellant's conviction for the murder of his third wife Jenny in 2009 should be upheld, and held, in a minority opinion, that Cooper should be acquitted of the conviction for the murder of his first wife. , The late Orit, in 1994. Justices Yitzhak Amit and George Kara agreed with Justice Elron's conclusion regarding the murder of the late Jenny and ruled in the majority opinion that the appellant's conviction in the murder of the late Orit should also be upheld.
The judges unanimously ruled that Cooper's conviction for the murder offense in Jenny's case is justified, and that it is supported by solid evidence and an established circumstantial set-up, in a manner that does not reveal a ground for intervening in the district court's regularity.
It was explained that Jenny's killing mechanism was proven by injecting Sculin material, which Cooper received from his partner Maria, who testified about taking Skolin ampoules without permission from the hospital where she was employed as an anesthesiologist.
In addition, Cooper's conviction relied on additional incriminating evidence, including the testimony of his son.
Judge Elron also noted findings in the marital relationship between him and Maria, evidence of his economic readiness to ensure he inherited the house in Kibbutz Eyal, his alternative stories to Jenny's death, And a report to MDA and the police about taking the pills, his behavior after Jenny's death, Maria's move to live with him in a kibbutz house immediately after the shiva, Cooper's remarks to Medvedev and his conduct during his many interrogations and lies, according to Judge Elron, in his testimony in court District.
In the minority opinion, Justice Elron considered that Cooper's conviction in Orit's murder was based on circumstantial, poor and insufficient evidence.
Including - the investigation file and the evidence are burning, the formulation of the evidentiary system was not done in real time, the evidence in the case was given from a distance of about twenty years, no forensic findings were found in the post-mortem, the manner of killing remained unresolved, the allegedly "fabricated" autopsy report relied on The district court, was not presented at all at trial, its existence is in doubt, and even if such a report existed there the circumstances of its disappearance are unclear and the cause of death is not known to this day.
Judge Elron further noted that Orit's parents also expressed to the court their belief that the appellant did not murder their daughter.
Judge Elron stressed that while there is concern about Cooper's possible involvement in Orit's death, suspicions, hypotheses and reasoning are not sufficient to establish a conclusion of guilt in Orit's murder offense beyond a reasonable doubt as required in criminal law.
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