Jerusalem: An Israeli court on Thursday
convicted the grandfather and mother, now a couple in a
live-in relationship, for the gruesome murder of four-year-old
Rose Pizem, some three years after the incident shocked the
world.
Ronny Ron, Rose`s grandfather, was convicted of
first-degree murder, while Marie-Charlotte Renault, her
mother, was convicted of soliciting the murder by Petah Tikva
district court.
The court handed down life sentences to both, but
agreed to stay the decision until an additional hearing is
held for arguments for leniency on May 30.
The verdict came nearly three years after Rose`s body
was found by divers in Tel Aviv`s Yarkon River.
Ron confessed to the murder at the time, leading
police to the spot in Tel Aviv where he said he tossed the
body into the river, but later retracted.
He made his confessions during a taped reconstruction
of Rose`s murder, which was played earlier this year at the
Petah Tikva District Court.
Rose was born in Paris in 2004 to Renault, a French
Jew with relatives in Israel, and Benjamin Pizem, the child of
a French mother and Ron.
At the age of one, Rose came to Israel, which was the
first significant encounter Benjamin had ever had with his
father, Ron, and the first time Marie met him.
Marie later separated from her husband and moved to
live in Israel with her father-in-law. They have two children
from live-in relationship.
PTI
