An Israeli man has been handed a life imprisonment sentence for the murder of his wife in Bangkok.
Israel's interior minister denies involvement in release of murderer from Thai prison.
Israel's Interior Minister has denied reports that he assisted in the release of a murderer from a Thai prison. Eli Cohen Maimon, aged 45, has been incarcerated in Thailand since 2004 for the killing of his ex-wife and the dismemberment of her body during their vacation. The Minister, Eli Yishai, refuted the claims of intervening to secure the freedom of an Israeli individual serving a life sentence in Thailand for the murder of his former spouse.
The latest update reveals that the man who killed his ex-wife in Bangkok is returning to Israel. Eli Cohen Maimon, aged 45, has been imprisoned in Thailand since 2004 for the murder of his ex-wife during their vacation in Bangkok, followed by the gruesome act of dismembering her body. However, according to a report published in Maariv on Tuesday, the Thai king has recently pardoned him, who will be able to return to Israel as a free man in May 2013. Yishai, responding to the situation, stated on Tuesday that it was his customary practice to assist young individuals who had encountered legal issues in countries like India and Thailand, particularly related to drug offenses, so that they could serve their sentences in Israel due to the harsh conditions in prisons in those nations.
The spokesperson for the Interior Ministry clarified that Yishai "never knowingly took action to facilitate the release of a murderer, and if [Cohen Maimon] was indeed involved in this matter, Yishai was deceived, and an investigation will be conducted." Yishai's personal spokesperson, Yaakov Betzalel, affirmed that the minister had no involvement whatsoever in this case.
He had previously served a prison sentence in Israel for drug smuggling and subsequently emigrated to Australia after providing testimony against 18 drug dealers. Around three months before the murder, he divorced his wife, Carol Cohen, aged 26. At that time, Carol's relatives mentioned that Cohen Maimon had made repeated attempts to contact her and eventually convinced her to vacation with him in Thailand. Several days after the murder, her body was discovered in a suitcase in a Bangkok canal, missing the head and legs. Cohen Maimon was apprehended on February 24, 2004, at the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok while filing a missing person report about his ex wife.
The police, who already harbored suspicions about his involvement in the murder, conveyed their concerns to the Israeli consul, Yaakov Dvir, through a phone call while he was dealing with Cohen Maimon's report. Consequently, Dvir promptly alerted the police. The case against him grew stronger when investigators found a blood-stained towel in the couple's hotel room, along with bloodstains elsewhere in the room and on his clothing. Additionally, hotel security footage captured he was leaving the premises with two suitcases in the middle of the night. He admitted to committing the murder during the trial.
Jun 2019, Israeli wife murderer captured and sent back to prison.
An Israeli man who committed a heinous crime by murdering his wife in Bangkok in 2004 has been apprehended in Thailand once more, despite being deported from the country in 2013. The individual in question was convicted of the brutal slaying of his wife, dismembering her body, and disposing of her remains in a suitcase, which he callously dumped in the Phadung Krung Kasem canal in the capital.
Originally sentenced to life imprisonment, Cohen was released on parole in May 2013 due to remission and subsequently deported. The Thai authorities also added him to the permanent blacklist, effectively prohibiting his reentry into the country. Cohen managed to return to Thailand using a new passport, assuming the name Yahel Eli Maimon Cohen, and concealing his true identity. Now 49 years old, he attempted to evade detection by entering the country on a tourist visa while seeking employment with a foreign company, as reported by INN.
He will now be deported once again after he was found to be in Thailand illegally.