Severe indictments will be submitted to the Nazareth District Court on Thursday against three suspects involved in the double murder of Marwan Abu Shahin and Sa'adah Sa'adah last June in Buq'ata in the northern Golan Heights.
The investigation, which the Northern District Central Unit conducted under the directive of District Commander Meir Eliyahu, revealed that the motive for the murder was Abu Shahin's refusal to pay protection money to a criminal organization.
The deadly incident transpired on June 19th in the afternoon, when a report was received of gunfire at vehicles in Buq'ata. Medical first responders dispatched to the scene had to pronounce Abu Shahin (52), a resident of the town, and his friend, Sa'ada (56), from Hurfeish, dead.
During the covert investigation, police investigators found that a hit squad was organized in advance to carry out the murder and rented a vacation home a day earlier in the northern Golan Heights. To execute the plan, the squad members were equipped with two vehicles purchased from a car lot in Isfiya.
As the investigation became public, seven suspects were arrested for involvement in the act, and the vehicle they used was seized in Kiryat Shmona, but the main suspect managed to escape.
In July, detectives in Yarka noticed a masked suspect exiting a business after he shot and severely injured an employee. The detectives pursued the suspect on foot, as he shot at them and attempted to escape on a motorcycle that was suspected of being stolen while wearing a helmet. Upon removing the helmet, the detectives discovered that the Yarka shooter was the central suspect in the double murder whom they were looking for.
District Commander Eliyahu stated that "solving murder cases and stopping severe crime is at the top of the Northern District's agenda. The Northern District Police invests its best resources, technological tools, intelligence capabilities, and its most skilled forces to reach every crime scene, solve every case, and bring the suspects to justice."
He noted that "even at this moment, our best officers are working with all their might to solve open cases, bring the suspects to justice, and ensure that anyone who partakes in severe crime is put behind bars."