Evidence stage begins in Rose Pizem murder trial

Evidence stage begins in Rose Pizem murder trial
By Ofra Edelman, Ha'aretz - ‎10 mai 2009‎, excerpt

The evidentiary stage of the Rose Pizem murder trial began in the Petah Tikva District Court yesterday.

The 4-year-old's body was found in a suitcase in the Yarkon River last September. Her mother, French national Marie-Charlotte Pizem, and her grandfather Ronny Ron, who is romantically involved with Pizem, have been charged in the murder.

At the beginning of the hearing, Ron's lawyer asked that his client be allowed to retract a confession to killing the girl, explaining that although he admitted to causing her death, it was through negligence.

The prosecution tried to link Pizem to the alleged murder. A prosecutor had previously acknowledged that her role in the girl's death was not clear, and the indictment against Pizem and Ron is vague regarding who bears the most responsibility.

The indictment alleges that one or both of the defendants procured the suitcase in which Rose's body was found, and then caused her death in an unknown manner and location. One or both put Rose in the suitcase, either dead or alive, and Ron threw the suitcase into the river.

The first witness at yesterday's hearing was a police detective who came to the family's home looking for Rose. When he entered the house and asked where Rose was, Ron said he would not let him see her because of a family dispute in France, the detective said. Pizem implied that Rose was at preschool, he added.