Twenty-four hours after Israel Police cleared the arrest of a 26 year-old suspected serial rapist, arsonist, and murderer Fyodor Beizhneri, neighbors of the Haifa-resident have come forward with horror stories.
"A few months ago this man made a barbecue, and the smoke wafted into our apartment during construction - and my mother was with me," a neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, told Channel 2. "Suddenly, when I came down with a bucket of water and asked him to put out the fire - he tried to attack me and threatened me that he would kill me."
"It was very scary," he recounted. "I immediately called the police. A mobile unit came to the building, but they didn't even arrest him."
"I think that if police would have arrested him and taken a DNA sample that time, many months ago, they would have caught him earlier in the string of murders."
A similar incident was caught on film nearly a year and a half ago. In that incident, Beizhneri is seen cursing out a neighbor complaining about the barbecue smell because he is a vegetarian.
Beizhneri, a Moldovan immigrant married to an Israeli, has been linked to dozens of rape and sexual assault cases all over Israel and is suspected of murdering at least 4 victims. He is also suspected of arson.
Police suspect that dozens of victims have not reported their run-ins with Beizhneri to law enforcement, and published his details to encourage women to come forward.
First wife: he is innocent
Meanwhile, Beizhneri's first wife defended him Wednesday, telling Walla! News that he is "a great man" and that she is "sure he did not do what they say he did."
The two met and dated in Moldova, and were together for six years; they lived for two years in Moldova and then made Aliyah together to Kibbutz Tze'elim in 2011.
"I am 100% sure he is not a murderer," she stated.
Some neighbors have also defended Beizhneri, saying he is a "nice man" who "is an introvert and not violent."