A Tel Aviv District Court panel, headed by Judge Yossi Toff, convicted Solomon Madmon, a Ramat Gan resident, on Tuesday of aggravated murder in the killing of Yossi Yosifia, 63, the father of his daughter-in-law. The verdict comes four years after the killing that shocked the family.
According to the indictment accepted by the court, Madmon could not accept his daughter-in-law’s wish to separate from his son. On a Saturday afternoon about four years ago, he drove to Ramat Gan, parked near Yosifia’s building, waited several minutes, took an item containing a pistol from his trunk and walked toward the entrance. Yosifia had returned from synagogue prayer with a neighbor and was waiting in the lobby for the elevator when Madmon arrived, knocked on the glass door and entered after a resident opened it for him.
The court found that Madmon stood next to Yosifia and demanded to see his grandchildren. When the elevator arrived, Yosifia, the neighbor and Madmon went inside. After an argument, they got out on the sixth floor, where Madmon removed the pistol from the bag, loaded the magazine and fired six shots at Yosifia’s face and upper body. Yosifia collapsed and died at the scene.
At the time of the shooting, Yosifia’s wife, daughter and grandchildren were inside his apartment. After hearing the shots, they opened the door and saw Madmon holding the gun. The indictment said he also pointed the weapon at his daughter-in-law and her mother, but the mother pulled her daughter inside and quickly shut the door. Madmon then called Magen David Adom himself and said, “I killed a person.”
Evidence showed that before the murder he had sent Yosifia threatening messages, including, “Well done, you pray while destroying families. I swear on my parents’ graves, you will pay,” and later, “In the name of God, how do you live with it?” Another message said he had “always ignored the warnings” and had “given up for the sake of our children’s family peace.” In the same case, 70-year-old Herzl Shamami of Hadera had previously received 40 months in prison for weapons offenses for supplying the gun and ammunition used in the murder.
