Parents of twins suspected of murder believe in sons' innocence

"We are sorry for the grave loss and offer our condolences to the family of the late boy," a statement by the parents of twins Naor and Adir Sudmi who are suspected of the murder of seven-year-old Leon Kalantarov was issued Saturday.

According to their attorney Yaron Forer, "The incident struck them like lightning on a clear day and they hope the twins will be found innocent. They do not believe they are capable of such an act. The family draws its strength from the belief that the bad story would end quickly."

It should be noted that social services claimed that the twins' family had raised difficulties over the years in allowing treatment for their problems, despite their history of violent offenses of the past seven years.

Adir Sudmi in court Friday (Photo: Tzafrir Abayov)

Kalantarov was discovered to be missing Thursday afternoon and after hours of door-to-door searches police officers arrived at the suspects' house in Bnei Ayish and asked their mother to enter. The twins refused to open their bedroom door and after it was bolted down, the boy's body was found on the bed with the suspects sitting by its side.

According to suspicions, the two murdered the boy when he resisted sexual abuse. The body's autopsy results should shed some light on what had occurred.

'Entire family should be jailed for life'

They boy's parents, Yana and Artur Kalantarov, have been staying with family in Ashdod since Friday. "I couldn't stay in the house where Leon's room is," the mother said in tears.

She spoke of her acquaintance with the murder suspects: "Parents should watch their kids closely and know exactly who their neighbors are and who lives beside them and not let them wander around alone."

The mother said she met the twins about one year ago, when her son told her he had stayed at their house. "I asked him, 'What did you do there?', he told me they read to him and he played with them on the computer. I asked him, 'Did they do anything to you?', 'Did they touch you?', he told me, 'No way! I only played on the computer with them'. I told him 'You are not allowed to go to their house anymore, there's nothing for you there, they are adults.'"

The mother continued, "I never thought such a horrible thing would happen, I saw the twins later, and one of them told me, 'Hello, Leon's mom'. They were nice, I would see them playing with the kids in the community and I wasn't afraid of them. I also didn't know that complaints had been filed against them with the police, if I had known, I would have watched Leon a little closer. But it still disturbed me that Leon knew them and met with them."

The mother said she does not understand the twins' parents: "They were in the house when my child was there, and I don't understand how they sat there quietly. I think that entire family should be jailed for life, even their parents and their siblings."

The mother said she has no grievances towards the police for their conduct in the search for her son, "but I think that if the police had arrested them before and dealt with them, this wouldn't have happened."

Of the moment she learned of her son's death she said, "When I saw the police coming towards my house and my husband crying, I understood what happened."

Leon will most likely be laid the rest on Sunday in Ashdod.

Previous complaints

It was revealed that complaints of child harassment by local residents were filed in the past against the two, who are known to suffer mental conditions.

According to a complaint filed several weeks ago, one of the brothers exposed himself to a group of children, however the police encountered difficulty with the investigation in light of the pair's mental condition and failed to gather sufficient evidence to arrest them.

Legal elements told Ynet Friday that offences of public indecent acts, of which the brothers were suspected, were sufficient grounds for an arrest or any other type of supervision, including psychiatric treatment.

"The offence does not necessarily warrant confined arrest but it does usually call for measures such as removal from the community, minors etc.," attorney Kobi Suderi said.

Shmulik Hadad contributed to this report