Asher Raby – Profile of a Serial Killer
By Avi Davidovich (8/4/2017)
By Avi Davidovich (8/4/2017)
The article "Serial Murder in Israel" provides a comprehensive overview of the serial killers discovered in Israel. One of them was Asher Raby, who operated in the country between 1979 and 1982. During 6 different attacks, he murdered five people, injured 10 others, and attempted to murder another victim. 15 of his 16 victims were Arabs, 6 women, and 4 children.
Like many serial killers, Raby used cold weapons, but he also used firearms, mainly when he wanted to commit mass murder – similar to mass murderers. One of the murders he committed – the murder of the monk George Philoumenos – caused Israel great embarrassment throughout the Christian world. Asher Raby was included in the category of psychotic serial killers, which is rare compared to the other categories of serial killers. Asher Raby was 36 years old when he was caught after a series of murders he had committed over the years. He told his interrogators that he had acted on divine command. According to him, God commanded him to expel evil.
His neighbors said after he was arrested that at night he would do "Tikkun Chatzot" and cry over the destruction of the Temple. He did not speak on Shabbat and did not drink water from the tap, but rainwater that he collected in the yard of his hut. He baked his bread at home. He wore worn-out clothes and did not take care to clean them. His family, who came from Afghanistan, lived in Jerusalem and moved to the Shapira neighborhood in Tel Aviv in 1960. His father died and Asher, who was the eldest, bore the burden of supporting the family - two brothers and three sisters. He served in the IDF in the Signal Corps and over the years worked as a truck driver transporting construction materials. He served in the reserve forces, including during the Yom Kippur War. After the war, his condition deteriorated. He converted to Judaism and stopped working. He sold his truck and car and donated most of the money to yeshivas and bought himself Torah scrolls. Four years before the murders, he opened a grocery store, but three months later he realized that he was not a merchant and sold the store. He has not worked since. In the two years prior to his arrest, he refused to renew his driver's license and refused to marry a woman until the Temple was built.[1]
Raby was arrested by the Nablus police on November 17, 1982. A monk from the Be'er Ya'akov Monastery (Jacob's Well) in Nablus called the police and said that he had caught him after he climbed a ladder on the monastery wall. After a brief interrogation, Raby confessed to murdering a priest in 1979 and attempting to murder a nun in April 1982.[2] During his interrogation he confessed to additional acts – the murder of Dr. Kogan and the Badra family in Lod.[3] Raby was described as an eccentric who repeatedly said during his interrogation that the impure Amalekites, or anyone who harms the Jewish religion, should be destroyed.[4]
His Victims
Dr. David Kogan
Dr. Kogan was a general practitioner and gynecologist. He was a co-owner of a private hospital for the mentally ill in Nes Ziona and the "Makim"[5] institution for the treatment of mentally-impaired children in Ramla. In 1962 he was put on trial for evading IL137,000 from income tax.[6] On March 7, 1979, he was murdered in his clinic in Tel Aviv. He was 65 years old. His body was found by his wife, having come home to discover him in a pool of blood. Their apartment was in the same building. He was wearing his clothes and not a robe because he had apparently finished his work. A deep wound on his scalp was clearly visible. At 9 p.m., his wife spoke to him in the clinic while a man and woman were waiting there. Raby apparently committed the murder shortly thereafter.[7] The deceased's wife, Sarah Kogan, also said that in addition to the couple waiting in the clinic, there was another person who caught her attention because of his strange appearance. He was carelessly dressed, unshaven, and wearing a visor hat. The sketch she had assembled matched Raby's appearance.
After being arrested in November 1982, Raby told how he murdered Dr. Kogan in his clinic at 109 Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. He knew the doctor after his friend had an abortion at his clinic. The victim "performed abortions and sterilized women," which is why Raby decided to murder him. He told his interrogators that when he arrived at the clinic on the day of the murder in the evening, a couple - a man and a woman - were waiting there. After the couple had gone, he went inside and told the doctor that he had an irritation in his groin area. Dr. Kogan also treated cases of sexually transmitted diseases. When the deceased bent down to examine the area, he struck him with an axe that he had hidden in his coat. According to Raby, the axe that he used to murder the doctor was also used to murder the monk. After murdering Dr. Kogan, he hid the axe in a hiding place near Nablus. When he tried to take out the axe a third time, he could not find the hiding place, so he bought a new axe.[8]
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| The sketch that was distributed after the murder of the Barda family (Davar, April 23, 1979, p. 4) and his photograph after his arrest (Ma'ariv, December 3, 1982, p. 3). |
The Badra Family in Lod
The murder of the Badra family was preceded by a "failed" attempt that took place about two weeks before the murder of Dr. Kogan. On February 24, 1979, an unknown person entered the Badra family home in the Şerkev neighborhood of Lod and stabbed 6 women – 2 "elderly women"[9] and 4 girls aged 11 to 17 – in an act described as a rampage. The victims were surprised in their sleep by the attacker, who had what appeared to be 2 knives in his hands. Without saying anything, he began stabbing "right and left" causing them deep and severe wounds. After the attack, he left the scene with a strange gait, swaying from side to side.[10] Despite the serious injuries sustained by the family members, no one died, so Raby returned to complete the mission, about a month after Dr. Kogan's murder.
It was on Tuesday, April 10, 1979, at around 6:30 p.m. The report received was about an unknown person who threw a grenade into the living room and fired an Uzi submachine gun into the family apartment. Ahmed Badra (40) and his two daughters were killed – Mona, 17, and Marilyn, 9 (some newspapers reported that she was 6, while others stated that she was 11). His wife, Abigail, 37, and three other children were seriously injured – Ronit, 13, Lili, 16, and the baby, Fuad, 1.5 years old.[11] A worker from the territories named Said Swarka, 51, who was staying with the family, was also injured. The description of the attacker who carried out the previous attack is identical to that of the killer. It is possible that the killer also used this attack with an axe.[12] After the murder, two people managed to capture him, but he threatened them with a grenade he had in his possession and they were forced to release him not before they saw him clearly and were able to identify him. Some witnesses claimed that the suspect had previously been seen wandering in the area.
Ahmed Badra worked in Tnuva and was involved in the trade of plastic products. He had met his wife, Abigail, 20 years earlier. Abigail, born in Acre, was the daughter of a Jew who converted to Islam. Hence the Hebrew names given to some of the children.
In the initial stages of the investigation, the police explored the possibility that the murder was connected to the mother's (Abigail's) activities in fortune-telling, astrology, witchcraft, and healing. Three days after the murder, a tractor driver working in a field near the family's home spotted a man matching the family's description. This individual was dressed in uniform, armed with an Uzi, and sleeping under a tree. When the suspect noticed the approaching tractor driver, he fled. The description of the killer was a man around 35 years old with messy hair, a mustache, a beard, a slightly elongated face, and a cap with a brim, a description that precisely matched Raby.[13] In July 1979, the police offered a substantial reward in the tens of thousands of Israeli liras for information leading to solving the case. The breakthrough in solving the two attacks only occurred after Raby's arrest in Nablus in November 1982.
The Priest and the Nun
The priest monk George Philoumenos was a Cypriot who belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church. He was murdered on November 30, 1979, in the Be'er Ya'akov Church in Nablus. Near the time of the murder, it was reported in the press that he had been stabbed to death and that there were signs of a grenade explosion near his body. A special investigation team established to investigate the matter in the Samaria Governorate arrested 8 suspects, including the church guard – all residents of the Askar refugee camp near Nablus. It was claimed at the time that the motive for the murder was criminal. A complete blackout was imposed on the investigation.[14] The blackout did not prevent angry reactions in Israel and around the world, mainly the claim that the murder was carried out for ideological and not "criminal" motives. The blackout apparently also contributed to the spread of various rumors about the circumstances of the murder, including the claim that the monk was tortured before his death by having his fingers cut off.[15]
Raby said during his interrogation that on the day of the murder, he entered the monastery by jumping over the monastery fence. He saw the monk go down to the prayer room and threw one of the hand grenades he had stolen from the IDF while serving in the reserves at him. When he thought the monk was still alive and might recognize him, he smashed his skull in with an axe. While fleeing the scene, he jumped over the fence and broke his leg. An Arab taxi driver picked him up and brought him to the government in Nablus. He was transferred to a nearby military camp for treatment and from there to Tel Hashomer Hospital. He defined himself as a welfare case, and the Ministry of Social Affairs paid for his hospitalization. He claims that he has visited the Be'er Ya'akov monastery many times, as God commands. On one occasion, in April 1982, he saw a nun near the monastery with a group of pilgrims. He threw a hand grenade at her, and then climbed Mount Gerizim and read the Torah for two days.
The murder of the Badra family was preceded by a "failed" attempt that took place about two weeks before the murder of Dr. Kogan. On February 24, 1979, an unknown person entered the Badra family home in the Şerkev neighborhood of Lod and stabbed 6 women – 2 "elderly women"[9] and 4 girls aged 11 to 17 – in an act described as a rampage. The victims were surprised in their sleep by the attacker, who had what appeared to be 2 knives in his hands. Without saying anything, he began stabbing "right and left" causing them deep and severe wounds. After the attack, he left the scene with a strange gait, swaying from side to side.[10] Despite the serious injuries sustained by the family members, no one died, so Raby returned to complete the mission, about a month after Dr. Kogan's murder.
It was on Tuesday, April 10, 1979, at around 6:30 p.m. The report received was about an unknown person who threw a grenade into the living room and fired an Uzi submachine gun into the family apartment. Ahmed Badra (40) and his two daughters were killed – Mona, 17, and Marilyn, 9 (some newspapers reported that she was 6, while others stated that she was 11). His wife, Abigail, 37, and three other children were seriously injured – Ronit, 13, Lili, 16, and the baby, Fuad, 1.5 years old.[11] A worker from the territories named Said Swarka, 51, who was staying with the family, was also injured. The description of the attacker who carried out the previous attack is identical to that of the killer. It is possible that the killer also used this attack with an axe.[12] After the murder, two people managed to capture him, but he threatened them with a grenade he had in his possession and they were forced to release him not before they saw him clearly and were able to identify him. Some witnesses claimed that the suspect had previously been seen wandering in the area.
Ahmed Badra worked in Tnuva and was involved in the trade of plastic products. He had met his wife, Abigail, 20 years earlier. Abigail, born in Acre, was the daughter of a Jew who converted to Islam. Hence the Hebrew names given to some of the children.
In the initial stages of the investigation, the police explored the possibility that the murder was connected to the mother's (Abigail's) activities in fortune-telling, astrology, witchcraft, and healing. Three days after the murder, a tractor driver working in a field near the family's home spotted a man matching the family's description. This individual was dressed in uniform, armed with an Uzi, and sleeping under a tree. When the suspect noticed the approaching tractor driver, he fled. The description of the killer was a man around 35 years old with messy hair, a mustache, a beard, a slightly elongated face, and a cap with a brim, a description that precisely matched Raby.[13] In July 1979, the police offered a substantial reward in the tens of thousands of Israeli liras for information leading to solving the case. The breakthrough in solving the two attacks only occurred after Raby's arrest in Nablus in November 1982.
The Priest and the Nun
The priest monk George Philoumenos was a Cypriot who belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church. He was murdered on November 30, 1979, in the Be'er Ya'akov Church in Nablus. Near the time of the murder, it was reported in the press that he had been stabbed to death and that there were signs of a grenade explosion near his body. A special investigation team established to investigate the matter in the Samaria Governorate arrested 8 suspects, including the church guard – all residents of the Askar refugee camp near Nablus. It was claimed at the time that the motive for the murder was criminal. A complete blackout was imposed on the investigation.[14] The blackout did not prevent angry reactions in Israel and around the world, mainly the claim that the murder was carried out for ideological and not "criminal" motives. The blackout apparently also contributed to the spread of various rumors about the circumstances of the murder, including the claim that the monk was tortured before his death by having his fingers cut off.[15]
Raby said during his interrogation that on the day of the murder, he entered the monastery by jumping over the monastery fence. He saw the monk go down to the prayer room and threw one of the hand grenades he had stolen from the IDF while serving in the reserves at him. When he thought the monk was still alive and might recognize him, he smashed his skull in with an axe. While fleeing the scene, he jumped over the fence and broke his leg. An Arab taxi driver picked him up and brought him to the government in Nablus. He was transferred to a nearby military camp for treatment and from there to Tel Hashomer Hospital. He defined himself as a welfare case, and the Ministry of Social Affairs paid for his hospitalization. He claims that he has visited the Be'er Ya'akov monastery many times, as God commands. On one occasion, in April 1982, he saw a nun near the monastery with a group of pilgrims. He threw a hand grenade at her, and then climbed Mount Gerizim and read the Torah for two days.
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The murder of the monk Philomenos was well commemorated in the Greek Orthodox Church, along with details whose grounding in reality is weak or nonexistent. In the Machairas Monastery near Nicosia in Cyprus, the murder was commemorated with a mural on the entrance ceiling, depicting a "typical" Jew holding an axe in his hand and a grenade in his pocket as he is about to attack a helpless monk standing near a well.[16] It is worth clarifying that Philoumenos appears in an old photograph standing by the well at the Be'er Ya'akov Monastery. Many Greek Orthodox sources report that a week before the murder, a group of Zionists arrived at the monastery and, while claiming that the place was a holy Jewish site, demanded that all crosses and icons be removed from the site. Father Philoumenos pointed to the floor built by Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century AD – 1,600 years before the establishment of the State of Israel, and that 800 years before the site was built, the well was not in the hands of the Jews but in the hands of the Samaritans. The group left the site, making threats. On the day of the murder, they broke in. They bound and tortured the priest to make him renounce his religion. They gouged out his eyes, cut off the fingers of his right hand, with which he made the sign of the cross, and brutally killed him. The attackers left the scene not before desecrating the site by writing Zionist inscriptions and symbols. Philoumenos was declared a saint in 2008.[17]
The End Of It All
Two days after his arrest on November 17, 1982, after a monk from the Be'er Ya'akov Monastery in Nablus called the police and said that he had caught him after he climbed a ladder over the monastery wall, apparently to carry out the sixth attack, Raby was brought before a magistrate in Nazareth and his detention was extended by 15 days. A gag order was issued on the entire affair because it involved religious figures and because the crimes were committed beyond the Green Line.[18] If these were indeed the reasons for issuing the gag order, then even in 1982 they were not valid. He was detained until the end of the proceedings on an indictment filed against him for the murder of the monk and the attempted murder of the nun. It was decided to file separate indictments for the murder of Dr. David Kogan in Tel Aviv and the murder of the Badra family in Lod. He was sent for observation[19] and in the end he was not brought to trial in any of the cases in which he was suspected, due to his difficult mental state. Since he was hospitalized in early 1983, nothing has been known about his fate.
Notes:
[1] Maariv, 3.12.1982, p. 3.
[2] Maariv, 2.12.1982, p. 3.
[3] Maariv, 2.12.1982, p. 3.
[4] Maariv, 1.12.1982, p. 16.
[5] Institution for the Advancement of Retarded Children.
[6] Herut, 19.8.1962, p. 4.
[7] Davar, 8.3.1979, p. 2.
[8] Maariv, 1.12.1982, p. 16.
[9] Grandma Fatma Badra and a relative from Amman, Aziza Badra, both 60 years old. The parents were on a trip abroad.
[10] Maariv, 26.2.1979, p. 12.
[11] Maariv, 6.7.1979, p. 11.
[12] Davar, 13.4.1979, p. 10.
[13] Davar, 23.4.1979, p. 4.
[14] Davar, 5.12.1979, p. 2.
[15] Maariv, 10.3.1980, p. 7.
[16] Dana Segev's report dated 20.5.2008 on the Asimon website - the website for women in Israel http://www.asimon.co.il/ArticlePage.aspx?AID=5412&AcatID=81#At. Retrieved on 8.1.2014.
[17] Article dated 1.1.2011 on the website of the Greek Orthodox Church. Retrieved on 8.1.2014. http://lordjesuschristhavemercy.blogspot.co.il/2011/01/new-martyr-philoumenos-hasapis-of.html
[18] Maariv, 2.12.1982, p. 3.
[19] Maariv, 17.12.1982, p. 5.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
