State Indicts Homeless Man in Fatal Stabbing of Rabbi in Bnei Brak

Israel’s State Prosecutor’s Office has filed an indictment with the Tel Aviv District Court against 45-year-old Guy Achtlinger, a homeless man, accusing him of murdering Rabbi Yishai Por in aggravated circumstances at the Chazon Ish yeshiva in Bnei Brak. The killing took place in front of the rabbi’s 13-year-old son.

According to the indictment, Achtlinger and the rabbi knew each other from Torah study at the yeshiva. About a week before the killing, while they were both at the institution, Achtlinger allegedly threatened him, saying he would “cut off his head,” and then decided, for reasons that are still unknown, to kill him.

A few days later, the rabbi was sitting on a bench with his son, both facing away from the entrance, when Achtlinger arrived wearing a glove and carrying a knife. Prosecutors say he approached from behind and stabbed the rabbi several times in the neck and once in the back, intending to kill him. He then fled, hid his jacket, glove and knife in a nearby abandoned building in an attempt to destroy evidence, and later drove to Beit Shemesh, where police arrested him hours later.

The rabbi collapsed and was taken to Sheba Medical Center with massive bleeding and unconscious. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The indictment also charges Achtlinger with abusing a minor by forcing the boy to witness his father’s murder, as well as obstruction of justice.