Today (Thursday), the Department of Police Investigations submitted an indictment to the Magistrate's Court in Nazareth against police officers Haim Gabai, Shai Cohen and Yitzhak Ben Shaia, after they disrupted the investigation of the events of the murder of the late Yoel Lehanghel - each according to his part.
According to the indictment, submitted through attorney Elisaf Klein, following a fight that developed on the street of IDF Square in Kiryat Shmona, the police were called, when the accused Haim Gabai arrived at the scene with another police officer and a volunteer.
Documentation from the fight in Kiryat Shmona during which the late Yoel Lehanghel was stabbed to death, October 2022, photo: security cameras
After investigating the incident and believing that the incident was over, they left the place and returned a short time later due to another report of a fight, during which the late Yoel Lehanghel was stabbed to death by Liad Adri.
During the investigation of the stabbing incident, Gabai and Adri, who had a prior acquaintance, talked several times, among other things, at the scene of the incident and by phone.
During the conversations, Adri told Gabbai that he was involved in the fight and asked him to get information regarding the deceased's medical condition, and regarding the police investigation.
The fight that led to the murder of Yoel Lehanghal in Kiryat Shmona // Security cameras
Gabay updated Adri on the condition of the deceased, on the progress of the police investigation and advised him to hire the services of a lawyer.
Also, in one of the other conversations, Gabay told Adri that he "can be calm".
Department of Police Investigations in the Ministry of Justice // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon,
The next morning, Adri's mother called the collector and he advised her to hire the services of a lawyer for her son since his identity was known to the police, even though he knew that Adri's involvement was not known to the police.
Only after the police learned, from another source, about Adri's possible involvement in the stabbing incident - did he become a suspect.
Despite Edri's involvement in the fight incident, and the suspicion that he was involved in the stabbing incident, his mental state and the questions he asked, Gabay, knowingly and deliberately, avoided giving the information to his commanders and the murder investigation team.
According to another charge, the defendants Shai Cohen and Yitzchak Ben Shaia arrived at the scene of the murder.
Before your arrival, a collector and another volunteer took a blood-stained helmet from the scene and put it in the police car to preserve it as an exhibit.
Cohen and Ben Shaya decided to return the helmet to the place in a way that would hide the fact that it was moved from the place as well as the fact that it was returned.
At their behest, a collector returned the helmet, but to a different place from where it was collected.
On top of that, the defendants also avoided documenting the removal of the helmet and its return and did not update the incident scene recorder on behalf of the MZP in this regard.
The indictment attributes to the defendants the commission of crimes of obstruction of justice and fraud and breach of trust.
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