The Prosecutor's Office on Monday filed an indictment against Edward Kachura with the Haifa District Court, charging that he murdered 17-year-old Lital Yael Melnik.
Kachura, 49, is charged with aggravated murder, multiple counts of statutory rape and abuse of power, as well as multiple counts of violating a legal order.
According to the indictment, which was filed by the Haifa District Prosecutor's Office, Kachura became acquainted with Melnik during her stay at a psychiatric facility, when she was in an unstable emotional state, and expressed his feelings towards her.
A short time after Melnik was released, and after she developed a dependency on Kachura, the two began a personal and intimate relationship which continued for about six months. During that period, Melnik would often be absent from her home, spending long hours with Kachura. As a result, a restraining order was issued against him, and Melnik was declared an endangered minor. However, despite the restraining order, Kachura continued his relationship with Melnik, and continued meeting with her.
On October 1, 2021, Melnik arrived at Kachura's home, and the two spent several hours together. In the middle of the night, police officers arrived at Kachura's home, searching for Melnik. Kachura did not open the door, and after the police officers left his home, he and Melnik left the address and began walking around outside.
During the night, the two of them spoke about her emotional distress, and decided to dig a sort of grave, into which Melnik would climb, with Kachura covering her so as to allow her to breathe while she was in it.
Later, and while Kachura was aware of her emotional distress, the two arrived at a construction site, where they dug a sort of grave, and Melnik lay down in it, trusting him. She put a breathing tube into her mouth, and after he made his decision to kill her, he completely covered her body and face with sand and gravel, while she was still alive. Later, Kachura removed the breathing tube from Melnik's mouth, preventing her from breathing or exiting the grave, thereby causing her great distress, until she suffocated and died.
In the request to arrest Kachura, it was noted that he caused her death intentionally and with extreme cruelty, and left her dead at the scene.
The request also said that "there is a reasonable basis for concern that if the accused is released, even under limiting conditions, he will endanger the public, since during the period leading up to the murder, as well as on the day of the incident itself, the defendant knowingly violated the restraining order which was issued by the court, and continued doing so throughout the entire period, even when police officers arrived at his home multiple times in order to locate the deceased."
"These actions on the part of the defendant, along with his aforementioned relationship with the deceased, while he was aware of her distress, show even more that the defendant lacks boundaries and does not obey the authority of the law, and therefore he is untrustworthy."