Indictment Filed Over Fatal Stabbing of Bnei Brak Torah Student in Front of Son

An indictment was filed Sunday morning against Guy Achtlinger, a 45-year-old homeless man, for murdering a 53-year-old Torah student in a Bnei Brak study hall in front of the victim’s 13-year-old son. Prosecutors also charged Achtlinger with abusing a minor by forcing the boy to witness his father’s killing, as well as obstructing justice.

According to the indictment, Achtlinger and the victim knew each other from Torah study in the Bnei Brak kollel. About a week before the killing, while both were there, Achtlinger threatened him and said he would “cut off his head,” then decided to kill him for reasons that are still unknown.

A few days later, while the victim was at the kollel with his son, the two sat on a bench with their backs to the entrance. Achtlinger approached from behind wearing a glove and carrying a knife, stabbed the victim several times in the neck and back, and fled immediately afterward. He went to a nearby abandoned building, hid the jacket, glove and knife, and then traveled to Beit Shemesh, where he was arrested hours later.

The victim collapsed and was taken to Sheba Medical Center in severe condition, unconscious and suffering from heavy bleeding. He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. Police said last month that they arrested the suspect after a search following the fatal stabbing at the synagogue on HaAr”i Street in Bnei Brak. Magen David Adom medic Elchanan Rosenstein said the injured man was “lying semiconscious and suffering from penetrating injuries,” and that medics treated him and evacuated him in critical condition.