While the investigation file raised dust, and the media moved on, the city's residents were left with shock and unanswered questions: Against the background of the dramatic development in the investigation of Margarita Levy's murder, we spoke with Eilat residents whose terrible incident is etched in their memory.
Exactly 20 years ago, the body of Margarita Levy, a discharged soldier only twenty years old, was found in a public park in Eilat, with signs of severe violence and a bloody towel on her head. Only four days before Levy arrived in the city to work in hotels.
Immediately after the murder, an investigation was launched, and a few days later a suspect was arrested. The suspect remained in custody for three weeks, but after a lengthy interrogation, the suspect was released and never charged. The investigation reached a dead end, and now, 20 years later, it has been reopened following developments about the details of which the Eilat Magistrate's Court imposed a publication ban.
The scene of the murder of Margarita Levy z"l (archive), photo: Yehuda Ben Itach
She had her whole life ahead of her
"I saw a black bag on the floor, lying in the sand under a tree, next to a bush and an iron pole. I had nightmares and for months this picture didn't leave my head," recalls Revital, a resident of Eilat, a few hours after the Israel Police published new developments in the brutal murder that shocked Eilat residents.
Margarita Levi immigrated from Ukraine in the early 90s with her mother and brother. She enlisted in the IDF and served as a technician in the Air Force and enrolled in nursing studies. She planned to spend the period until she began her studies in Eilat and work as a waitress.
The scene of the murder twenty years ago (archive), photo: Yehuda Ben Yattach
Revital recounts the dramatic hours after the murder: "A few hours after the murder, the police walked around the neighborhood, knocked on all the doors in the neighborhood and asked the residents if they knew the victim."
Sharon lived near the park where Margarita's body was found: "It was the park where all of us, all the neighborhood kids, played. After the murder, the police hung up ribbons and closed the scene. To this day, I remember the police's red ribbon, "Forbidden Entry" into the kindergarten. His uncle, also a resident of the neighborhood, says: "I remember this difficult case, they found the body next to the tree in neighborhood A, opposite the soccer field of the Ya'alim school."
Police on Friday imposed a gag order on all details of the investigation that could identify the suspects. The court ruled that the order would be valid until July 23
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