Almog Peretz, the wife of the criminal Shaul Peretz, is the woman who was murdered today (Sunday) in an apartment in Ashdod. According to the suspicion, a gunman who came to assassinate her husband shot in her direction and mortally wounded her, she was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Shaul and Almog Peretz are the parents of four small children, who were born while Peretz was detained in the Abu Kabir Detention Center in Tel Aviv. Their youngest daughter was born only about a month ago.
“He who murdered a woman in front of her husband and children is a human animal,” a family member is outraged, “he should be hanged on an electric pole, a despicable murderer. The children witnessed their mother’s murder, why this cruelty? She did no harm to anyone. She was an exemplary mother, took care in devotion to the children while Shaul was detained. This is a severe blow to the family.”
Peretz himself received the news of his wife’s death in the hospital. “Shaul was shocked by this whole incident,” explains the insider, “we wrap the children in warmth and love, luckily they were not hit by the shooting.” The case was transferred to the central unit of the Lakish Police, and the hunt for the murder suspect continues at this time as well.
The police investigation reveals that the killer was wearing a soldier’s uniform, and was armed with a gun with two cartridges. He knocked on the door of the apartment where Perez was under house arrest with an electronic handcuff, and when he opened the door he pulled out a gun and shot him. His wife who was at home tried to intervene and was shot by the hired killer and later pronounced dead. His niece, a soldier in the army who was on leave at home, returned fire at him and was also slightly wounded. Immediately after the shooting, the killer fled the scene, allegedly in a getaway car that was waiting for him.
“This is a murder that was planned in detail,” claims a police source, “those involved knew where he had been living lately. It took us a while to understand what exactly happened because Peretz is not an intelligence target of the Lachish area and the southern district.” The police are conducting an extensive hunt for those involved.
The scene of the murder in Ashdod this morning Photo: Police spokeswoman
Peretz is the main defendant in the murder case of Yossi Shariki that happened in 2018. Shariki (30) was associated with loan and debt collection businesses in Holon and Bat Yam, and was targeted by Peretz and his men who tried to take over the market.
According to the indictment, Peretz, who at the time controlled the loan and debt collection market in Holon, was angry that Shariki was in contact with one of his enemies, and demanded a meeting and “compensation” of NIS 150,000. Before the murder, Shariki had time to inform his father that he was afraid they would hurt him and asked him to accompany him to the meeting with Peretz and his men.
On January 15, 2018, Peretz invited Moshe ben Simhon, Yosef Haim Weizman and two others to his mother’s house to prepare for the assassination mission. He instructed them how to surprise Shrike, and shoot him in the legs. “He gave them the gun,” said a prosecution witness, “after that he arranged with Shariki near his parents’ house.”
Yossi Shariki
Ricky drove to the meeting place, and his father was waiting for him nearby in case he had to intervene. Even before the meeting, Peretz instructed Shariki to give his father the phone, fearing that he would record their meeting. In the middle of the conversation, Weizman and Ben Simhon arrived riding a motorcycle, Peretz fled the scene and Shiriki tried to escape but Ben Simhon managed to catch up with him, and fired three bullets at him. One bullet hit his leg, and the other in his stomach. He was taken to Wolfson Hospital for medical treatment in a critical condition, and a short time later he was pronounced dead.
Weizman and Ben Simhon were arrested near the incident with a gun in their possession. Later, Peretz and two others involved were also arrested. The three main suspects remained silent in the investigation, but the other two incriminated them, and confronted them in the interrogation rooms. In addition, Shariki’s father recognized Peretz. “Yossi was very afraid that Shaul would hurt him,” a relative told police investigators.
In the end, the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Peretz, Ben Simhon, Weizman and their friend Adiel Levian for involvement in the murder. The trial against the four was excessively prolonged, and lasted for about six years due to evidentiary difficulties discovered in the case.
About a year ago Ben Simhon, who was released to house arrest in Elad, was killed when masked men on a motorcycle shot him several times while walking on Shimon HaTzadik Street. The suspicion was that this was revenge for the murder of Shiriki. Peretz was also released to house arrest with an electronic handcuff about four months ago, due to the continuation of the legal proceedings. Today, as mentioned, an assassin tried to eliminate him, but killed his wife.
“The suspicion is that this is a revenge murder,” said a police official. The police fear that Peretz and his men will avenge his wife’s murder.
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