Serious Crimes Case (Be’er Sheva) 63400-04-21 State of Israel v. Maor Meir Dadon

Verdict

The Honorable S.  The President (Ret.), Judge Ariel Vago - Presiding Judge:

Overview

1. An indictment was filed against the defendant, Maor Dadon, born in 1993, attributing to him the offense of murder under aggravated circumstances, under section 301A(a)(7) of the Penal Law, 5737-1977 (hereinafter: the "Law"). This was following a violent and bloody incident, which led to the death of the cousin - Ben Dadoun (hereinafter: "the deceased" or "son"), born in 1992, at the home of the two grandmothers, in Netivot.
2. The incident of violence that is the subject of our discussion took place on the morning of the day of the elections for the Israeli Knesset, 23 March 2021, at approximately 09:10, in two main arenas - inside the grandmother's house (hereinafter: "the first scene"), where a lot of blood was found, in various performances and places, and outside it, in the backyard of the house (hereinafter: "the second scene"), where the deceased was found lying on the ground, suffering from numerous stab wounds to his upper body, and in a complex and serious medical condition. The occurrence at the first scene can be studied mainly by means of forensic evidence, including blood sampled, as well as traces and stains found throughout the house.  In contrast, the events at the second scene, which took place in broad daylight, were observed, in part, by two key eyewitnesses, who were in the vicinity of the scene of the incident, and who were in eye contact with what was happening.  Their version constitutes a central element in understanding what was happening at that scene.  One of these two witnesses called the rescue and security forces to the scene, and was recorded by a security camera, while he was doing so.
3. The matter of the verdict is the question of whether it was the defendant who stabbed the deceased and caused his death, as the accuser claims, whether it was done by someone else, or others, whose identity is unknown, as the defense claims. In order to answer this question, and to decide it, we will also examine the nature of the relationship between the two, prior to the incident, and the question of the existence of a possible motive for the act.  This is done by means of testimonies and other evidence, which have the power to shed light on the state of mind of the defendant and the deceased at the relevant time.  In order to understand the factual picture at the core of the incident, we will deal with the testimonies and evidence to which the parties, each according to his approach, referred, including videos produced from the body cameras of the police and rescue personnel who were called to the scene, which show, inter alia, what happened before they arrived at the various scenes, and certainly about what happened shortly after the incident.  Alongside these, the forensic evidence will be examined, and we will deal with its implications for the question in dispute.

The Indictment

4. According to the facts of the indictment, the defendant is a cousin of the deceased. The grandmother of the two, who is also the mother of their two fathers, Mrs. Aisha Dadoun (hereinafter: "the grandmother"), lives in a ground floor house, which has two entrances (hereinafter: "the house").  One is in front, the front of which faces the street, and the other is at the back, with a courtyard paved and shaded by a pergola, bordered by neighbors on both sides, but is not delineated.

It was claimed that at the relevant time, the deceased lived with his grandmother in the house.  On 23 March 2021, at approximately 8:40 A.M., the deceased sat on the bed in the room and was fiddling with his mobile phone.  The grandmother spoke to him before leaving the clinic, at about 8:45 A.M., from the back of the house, and left the door open.  As she was walking there, she met the defendant, who came to the backyard, kissed her and said he would stay there until she returned.