Yahya Farhan

Last updated
Yahya Farhan
Born
Adwan Farhan

1976 (age 46–47)
Hamaam, Israel
Conviction(s) Murder
Criminal penalty Life imprisonment
Details
Victims2–4
Span of crimes
1994–2004
Country Israel
State(s) Northern District
Date apprehended
2009

Yahya Adwan Farhan (born Adwan Farhan in 1976) is an Arab-Israeli criminal and serial killer responsible for numerous offences, the most notable being the murder of Dana Bennett. Farhan confessed to numerous robberies, rapes and four murders (later recanting them), and was convicted of three murders and one rape, receiving three consecutive life sentences. [1] After an appeal, he was acquitted of his last murder, but his other convictions were upheld. [2]

Contents

Early and adult life

Adwan Farhan was born to a Muslim-Arab family, in the little Bedouin village of Hamaam, Israel. He is the youngest of 13 children. His father, Yahya, was part of the Palmach and fought alongside the Jews during the War of Independence, but died when his son was only 5 years old. His mother had difficulty raising Farhan, who soon became the family's black sheep. Years later, his mother also passed away. [3] In 2007, much to family's dismay, he changed his name to Yahya, in order to honor his father. [4]

As an adult, Yahya Farhan would become a career criminal responsible for a variety of crimes, but still managed to marry a woman named Zeriya, with whom he had four children, one of which, a daughter, suffered from kidney disease. [5] [3] He spent little time with them due to spending time in various prisons. [4] When he was a 26 year old man, he raped a 13 year old girl from Tiberias (only identified as Y.). Farhan mistreated the girl and her family, beating the teenager on two different occasions and forcing her to convert to Islam. The teenager also gave birth to a baby, but since it was uncertain who the father was, the child was sent to a foster family. [6]

Crimes

Farhan first entered the criminal world at the age of 16, but was arrested and imprisoned for the first time in 1998, at the age of 22. Since then, he has had numerous convictions, serving time in the Shita, Ashmoret, Tzalmon and Eshel prisons. [4] According to police from the Northern District, at some point he was an informant, but contact with him was ceased after his information turned out to be unreliable. [7]

Non-murder offences

First murder

According to his own confessions, Farhan committed his first murder in 1994, at age 18, killing a friend near the Arik Bridge in the Golan Heights. This couldn't be verified, and he was not prosecuted for this murder. [3]

Murder of Silvia Molarova

A 27-year-old tourist and volunteer from the Czech Republic, Silvia Molarova was spending most of her time at a pub near Dugit. Farhan spotted the drunk woman trying to hitch a ride from the pub in March 2003, and taking advantage of her state, he and his girlfriend drove the unsuspecting Molarova to the Tzalnom River. He held her by the hair and strangled Molarova to death with a thin cable. After that, he put her head in the stream, and when her body stopped moving entirely, he forced his girlfriend to tie stones to the body, in order for it to not float. [2]

Murder of Dana Bennett

On May 26, 2003, Farhan and his girlfriend noticed Dana Bennett exiting a shared taxi while travelling in his car. The pair persuaded Bennett to enter their car, and after she entered, Farhan began driving towards a field in Migdal. When they arrived, he hit the scared Bennett in the face, tore off her blouse, took off her bra and strangled her with it. [2] The girlfriend, Y., watched the whole event, and later helped with burning the body and hiding the remains. [1]

Murder of Aharon Simchov

In July 2004, while in a detention center in Tiberias, a fight broke out between the prisoners. After having breakfast the next day, Farhan followed Aharon Simchov, one of the prisoners involved in the fight who cooperated with authorities, to the shower area. [2] With all noises camouflaged by the running water, Farhan proceeded to beat Simchov, before strangling him with a string taken from the victim's trousers. He then hung the body from the shower head, in an attempt to simulate suicide. [2] [3]

Trial and sentence

After Bennett's body was discovered in 2009, Y. was questioned about the case, confessing that Farhan had killed the girl. During this time, he was imprisoned in Beersheba for robberies and theft, and was awaiting trial for one of the rape cases. [5] When interrogated, Farhan confessed to his crimes and the other murders, implicating Y. in helping him with two of them. His guilt was definitely proven, as he managed to recreate the Bennett crime scene accurately.

At trial, he quickly recanted his confessions, accusing the authorities of denying him access to his lawyers, medication and any sleep at all. [2] He also alleged that the real killer was roaming free and that Roman Zadorov, who was suspected of killing a woman, was also innocent of his respective crime. [7] Despite his claims, Yahya Farhan was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences, plus 12 years for the rape of Vans Farhan.

On October 2, 2013, an appeal from Farhan was approved, acquitting him of Simchov's death, as there was insufficient evidence to prove his guilt. [2] However, the judges reaffirmed the rest of the convictions, and sent Farhan off to the Sha'ar Menashe psychiatric hospital. [7]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Yossi Mizrahi (July 21, 2010). "See: Farhan reconstructs Bennett's murder" (in Hebrew). mako.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The murderer of Dana Bennett, Yahya Farhan, is acquitted of murdering his cellmate" (in Hebrew). Walla!. October 2, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Ayala Chananel (May 26, 2009). "Adwan Yahya Farhan: Portrait of a serial killer" (in Hebrew). Walla!.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sharon Roffe-Ofir (May 26, 2009). "From conviction to conviction: Who are you, Yahya Farhan?". Ynet (in Hebrew).
  5. 1 2 Ahikam Moshe David (May 26, 2009). "Dana Bennett's murderer is suspected of murdering three more people" (in Hebrew). mako.
  6. ↑ Ahikam Moshe David (May 27, 2009). "Farhan's love: It hurts me for what happened" (in Hebrew). mako.
  7. 1 2 3 Iris Mirzan (May 28, 2009). "Yahya Farhan: Dana Bennett's murderer is walking freely". 13news.co.il (in Hebrew).
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