Chabad Man Missing For Weeks Found Handcuffed, Dead, Rabbis Block Full Autopsy

Chabad rabbis blocked full autopsy, forced state to agree to a a "limited postmortem examination" that found no external signs of foul play.

Mystery surrounds haredi man's death
Yaakov Lappin , THE JERUSALEM POST

A man with one hand cuffed who was found dead in an empty building in Beit Dagan last Friday was identified as Raphael Miriashvili, 25, of Lod, following the lifting of a media gag order by police on Tuesday.

Hundreds of people attended Miriashvili's funeral in Lod on Monday evening.

The circumstances of Miriashvili's death, and the fact that he had served time in prison for attempting to forcefully break up a Jewish-Arab couple, led to speculation that the dead man had been the victim of a revenge slaying.

Police, however, said that an autopsy revealed no foul play.

"No gunshot wounds or knife wounds were found by the coroner," a police spokesman told The Jerusalem Post. "No evidence of criminal wrongdoing was found."

A police source said it was too soon to know whether Miriashvili's past activities were linked to his death.

Miriashvili, who was a member of Lod's Chabad community, had been missing for approximately a month, prompting police to launch a missing persons inquiry in late July.

His body was spotted by a tow truck driver in Beit Dagan on Friday.

A police source told the Post that Miriashvili's shoes played a key role in identifying him, since the body was partially decomposed.

Police believe Miriashvili had been dead for weeks, and sent his body to a coroner for a limited postmortem examination on Monday evening, after reaching a compromise with members of the Chabad community, who initially objected to the procedure.

Four years ago, Miriashvili heard a caller on a pirate haredi radio station describe how her daughter, who was under 18 at the time, had entered into a relationship with an allegedly abusive Arab teenager. The couple had started living together and were expecting a child, the woman said.

Miriashvili made contact with the woman after receiving her phone number from the radio station, and proposed a "rescue plan."

Donning Border Police uniforms, Miriashvili and two friends pulled up to the home of the youth in a rented car, arriving late at night. They informed the youth that he was under arrest, and that he was being taken to Ramle's police station.

As the car sped through the streets of south Tel Aviv, the youth realized he was not in police custody, and he leaped out of the car as it traveled at high speed, sustaining light injuries.

He called the police, who apprehended Miriashvili and his two accomplices.

Miriashvili was found guilty of kidnapping, battery, and conspiracy to commit a crime while carrying a firearm. He received an 18-month prison sentence, which was reduced to a year for good behavior, and was set free a year ago.

Miriashvili was last seen by his sister in July as he was leaving his home. His family say he had planned to travel to Safed to begin a new job.

This is a case where it would seem normative halakha would have mandated a full autopsy in the hope its findings would help prevent future deaths.

I suspect the reason a full autopsy was not done is the same reason haredim rarely donate organs, even when donation does not involve accepting brain stem death.

Just as failure to donate organs kills people, so does blocking autopsies of crime victims or possible crime victims, along with victims of rare or unusual diseases.

Comments

[Mr. Apikoros]

I don't think an autopsy is necessary in this case to prove this guy was murdered.

Despite what some bloggers on VIN say about this case, kidnapping is a crime, both in Israel and here. Even, God forbid, if a Jewish woman marries a GOY, and the "kidnapping" is perceived by the Jewish bigots as some sort of "rescue."

[Chazak]

why should a jewish girl be forced to marry someone on the basis of his race? judaism is based on lineage (including male for your kohain needs) so this jewish-only thing is racism. now we humans have a natural instinct against endogamy and its natural to let that play out. there's a reason why all the hungarian hasids look inbred and have nasty congential issues.

[R]

if the girl had wanted help there are lots of numbers to call that help women in abusive relationships. You cannot rescue someone who doesn't want to be rescued and forcing it makes it worse.

The man obviously was murdered. That isn't what they need to find out.

[effie]

The girl was pregnant and shacked up with the guy. It was her mother who said the relationship was abusive. There is no other info and the mother had motive to lie.

Also, there is insufficient evidence that this man was murdered. It would never hold up in court. They need a real autopsy. Do they say where the body was found?

[Dorian]

Effie wrote:
"..here is no other info and the mother had motive to lie.." I agree
But: "..there is insufficient evidence that this man was murdered. It would never hold up in court. They need a real autopsy...
Not necessarily; there is circumstancial evidence...

nevertheless, as tragic as this i;Raphael Miriashvili & Co handled this the wrong way fromt he beginning.
Instead of 'being right'they should have been clever and think of a better plan.
Actions like this never works and mostly results in primitive blood-revenge by the Arabs. The lack of knowledge mostly comes from either ignoring..or a to secluded live style and wanting to play the hero..
All is tragic..

[tanya]

This was a young fellow, 25, who was so devoted to his "cause", that he actd out in a opassionate and adolescent manner. If he had been mature, he never would have done what he did. An orthodox idiot. He reminds me of the poor sould who got locked up in Japan for smuggling pills in their suitcase. Not the same in many ways, but yes, the same in terms of a young immature ortho making a huge mistake.
Too bad the fellow served time. He should have been let off, just because his intentions were honorable.
Of course he was murdered in revenge. Stupid move all the way around. But you know that nobodoy lost their lives, except this young stupid man. Noone to guide him? Where were the other rabais, the in which he participated, did he act alone? Sad story.

[tanya]

Sorry,

it should be, " the other rabbis, the Chabad in which he participated,"

[effie]

Not necessarily; there is circumstancial evidence...

Well, all things are possible in Israeli courts, but not in a US court of law. While people have been convicted of murder where no body has been found, there was plenty of evidence that the victim was murdered, that the defendants had murdered him and how they disposed of the body. Here, there is nothing. He may have had a kinky sex fetish, he may have committed suicide, he may have done it himself to make him look like a victim of revenge, he may have died as a result of a rare heart anomaly. All create a reasonable doubt. There are just too many possibilities.

Also, I see that he was found in an empty (I assume they mean abandoned) building.

[effie]

For all this talk about the religious, chaste, life and the separation of the sexes, the haredi are always doing the nasty.

Young girls with arab boyfriends.
Young girls having sex with rabbis in cars.
Young girls having sex with politicos.

Miriashvili committed a very serious crime and he only got his hand slapped for it.

[Mr. Apikoros]

When you find a dead body handcuffed to something, the presumption is it's murder, not kinky sex (see Occam's Razor).

[A. Nuran]

Here's a guy who commits violent crimes against strangers because he doesn't like who they're sleeping with. If you do that sort of thing your chances of ending face down in a ditch do tend to rise.

[effie]

When you find a dead body handcuffed to something, the presumption is it's murder, not kinky sex (see Occam's Razor).

Under the law - no. You need to prove the man actually was murdered. Plus, if he was killed, you need evidence to support the appropriate charges, i.e., manslaughter vs. murder. If someone was responsible for his death, not sure why anyone would not want the appropriate punishment for the criminal.

[Ben]

Everyone is rushing to judgement about Yad L'achim activities. This organization does not forcefully brake marriages between Jewish girl and Arab man (by the way it is always this way and not the other way around), it is trying to save girls from abusive relationships. The girls are trying to get out, but the Arabs have "family honor" thing and beat them up and treaten to kill them. It is most of times impossible to get out of the Arab home in the Arab village or town and survive.

There are numerous shelters for this Arab men on Jewish women crime in Israel. Arabs are harsh on women who wants to leave in general and doubly so towards Jewish women. Thus the girls are trapped literally.

Last week a 15 year old Jewish girl was killed by 2 Arabs, when she decided to break up with one of them. They gave her a ride and bludgeoned her to death, because their "honor" was damaged.

This is not a joke, but a tradgedy. I hope and pray that non of your female relatives is imprisoned by a violent savage.

[alternative childcare]

When you find a dead body handcuffed to something, the presumption is it's murder, not kinky sex (see Occam's Razor).

"Grasshopper, grab the pebble from my hand."

[Ben]

Rescues of abused women is not racism.

[Mr. Apikoros]

Ben, that's why Israel has a police force, so vigilantes such as this putz who found himself sleeping with the fishes aren't needed to do police work.

Doesn't Yad L'achim also try to "break up" marriages between Jews and Christians? Doesn't Yad L'achim try to "discourage" missionaries?

There was an organization in the USA which tried to break up interracial marriages, generally by stringing up the husband from a tree.

Isn't all of this against the law?

[alternative childcare]

Shmarya, you can come over here and spend some time in the path lab and learn how this works instead of reaching rash assumptions about anyone blocking autopsies.
Its not likely a "full" autopsy would have been done on this patient, and a "limited autopsy" is usually more than is needed on decomposed bodies like this, since, frankly, most of what one might look at in a "full" autopsy is already gone; the brain and much else is way beyond evaluation by this point. Most of what one needs in this kind of case can be done with needle biopsies or the remaining organs, probing suspect areas, and particularly blood/tissue tests for toxins, etc. The full "man in the pan" is rarely done by the medical examiner either unless there's some really good reason to do so (and man, if you've ever seen jumpers, drowning victims, or decomposed bodies, you know what I mean).

[Ben]

Mr.Apikoros, I disagree with you on this one. Yad L'achim does oppose interfaith marriages as any other religious confession does whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddist, Hindu or Druse.

However they do not break up such marriages as you trying to portray. There are hundreds of thousands of interfaith marriages in Israel. Yad L'achim does not harras anybody. What they do is trying to save ABUSED and Threatened women from places where police does not go.

Such situations do not allow for long process, since Arab family and Clan honor act quicker then police.

I am not aware of a single case of harrassment of interfaith couples by Yad L'achim. Do you?

[Yakira]

I am a little confused, was the Jewish girl kidnapped by an Arab man or did she willingly engaged in a relationship with him? The family of Miriashvili did an injustice to him by not letting the authorities do a complete autopsy on his body so they can know exactly what happened to him and find his murderer. Miriashvili may have broken the law by kidnapping the Arab man but he did not deserve to be murdered like that. Why in the world would a Jewish female want to have a romantic relationship with an Arab man?

[Ben]

It happens all the time lately Yakira. Last year state of Israel statistics shows that more then 5000 children in Israel were born of Jewish mother and Arab father in 2008. This is close to 5% of all Jewish births last year and 13% of all Arab births (Arabs count these children as Arab, while Jews count them as Jews).

Many of these relationships become abusive. Yad L'achim helps a few dozen women per year to escape when they can not due to the danger to their lifes.

[Yakira]

Thank you Ben for clearing that up for me.

[in the know]

Mr.Apikoros, I disagree with you on this one. Yad L'achim does oppose interfaith marriages as any other religious confession does whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddist, Hindu or Druse.

However they do not break up such marriages as you trying to portray. There are hundreds of thousands of interfaith marriages in Israel. Yad L'achim does not harras anybody. What they do is trying to save ABUSED and Threatened women from places where police does not go.

Such situations do not allow for long process, since Arab family and Clan honor act quicker then police.

I am not aware of a single case of harrassment of interfaith couples by Yad L'achim. Do you?

Posted by: Ben | August 20, 2009 at 12:42 AM
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If the org is so concerned about abusive relationships then tell me one thing . Why dont they try and help regular everyday families in the orthodox and others who also have abusive relationships why is it only with arabs . You are a fraud and so is yad leachim . They are very irrsponsible in thier actions and causing more and more hatred toward the yiddin . Do u want an arab coming into your home and kidnap u because they feel that thier koran is the real thing and for you to convert? whats the matter with you . Have you fallen off the deep end?

[sandra]

when you join chabad . your life is in danger .