Convicted Murderer Atef Sbeih Dies in Israeli Prison at 68

Atef Sbeih, who was convicted of the murders of Danny Katz and Dafna Carmon, died on Thursday at a hospital at the age of 68, the Israel Prison Service announced. Sbeih was serving time as a criminal inmate at Rimonim-Ofek Prison and maintained his innocence for over four decades.

Sbeih was one of five men convicted of the abduction and murder of 14-year-old Danny Katz, who disappeared in December 1983 in Haifa. His body was found three days later near Sakhnin. The court determined that Sbeih beat Katz, strangled him with a rope, and committed sexual assault while the victim was dying or after his death. Sbeih told investigators that he joined the plot to "prove loyalty" and claimed a nationalistic motive of "sabotage in Israel," though the Shin Bet did not confirm a nationalistic motive.

The case of Danny Katz became one of Israel's most contentious legal battles. The convicted men later recanted their confessions, alleging they were coerced through violence and pressure. In 1999, then-Supreme Court President Aharon Barak ordered a retrial due to significant withheld evidence. However, the retrial resulted in renewed convictions in 2005, with the Supreme Court upholding the sentences.

Sbeih was also convicted of the abduction, rape, and murder of Dafna Carmon, a 21-year-old former soldier, in Haifa in June 1982. Her remains were found weeks later. Appeals for a retrial in Carmon's case were rejected.

In 2007, then-President Shimon Peres commuted the sentences of the Danny Katz murder convicts, but Sbeih remained imprisoned due to his conviction in the Carmon case. In 2021, he petitioned President Isaac Herzog for a pardon after serving approximately 37 years, stating he could not regret actions he claimed he did not commit. The request faced public protest and was denied, leaving him incarcerated until his death.