A convicted sex criminal has been accused in connection with two gruesome cult killings in Israel.
Eliezer Berland (83), was arrested Monday in connection to the murders of Avi Edri and Nissim Shitrit in 1986 and 1990.
He is currently serving 18 months for fraud, exploitation, attempted intimidation, tax offences and money laundering.
The notoriously slippery defrocked Rabbi secured a reduced sentence, despite serving 18 months in 2016 for sexual offences — again on a reduced term.
In recent weeks, seven of his Hasidic cult members were arrested for murders that took place more than 30 years ago.
Convicted sex offender Eliezer Berland (pictured at court in Haarlem, Israel, in 2014 before being convicted for sexual offences), 83, has been accused of being at the centre of gruesome cult murders in Israel more than 30 years ago
Nissim Shitrit, left, disappeared in 1986. He had filed a police complaint claiming that he was abducted and beaten up in Jerusalem by Berland’s Shuvu Banim. Avi Edri (right), was found dead in a forest north-east of the city in 1990, after he had been pummelled to his death.
Ultra-Orthodox Jew Shitrit, 17, disappeared days after filing a police report claiming to have been abducted and attacked by Berland’s Shuvu Banim cult’s ‘modesty squads’ in Jerusalem.
Berland’s vigilante groups were known for using violence and intimidation against police Haredi standards in public.
They terrorized orthodox Jerusalemian neighborhoods for more than 30 year.
Shuvu Banim members had been arrested at the time, but police didn’t have enough evidence to convict.
Shitrit claimed that he was accused of having relationships with multiple girls as a student by the cult.
His body was never found but a former Berland-follower said he was dismembered and buried in a forest outside the city, according to Israeli broadcaster Kann News.
Berland’s son-in-law Zvi Zucker, a capo of one of the ‘modesty squads’, allegedly admitted that he knew about the murder.
Edri, a 41 year-old ultra-Orthodox taxi operator, was then beaten to death four years later. His remains were found in Ramot Forest north Jerusalem.
Shuvu Banim is suspected to have been in multiple relationships with married Haredi women.
A 2020 documentary suggested that the group was behind both murders. This prompted a new police investigation.
Two men — one of whom is accused of being the main kidnapper and murderer — and a woman in their 60s who were former cult members were arrested on October 17.
According to Israel Hayom, the woman admitted to being used as a ‘honey trap” in Edri’s murder as well as Shitrit’s.
She said that she ‘enticed Shitrit’ to an apartment in Jerusalem, where Berland followers were waiting.
Two days later, three more suspects were detained. Two more were detained after two days.
On Wednesday, police searched for Shitrit’s remains after new evidence emerged following a series of recent arrests.
His brother Meir told radio network Moreshet that forensics were attempting to find traces of his DNA in ‘lumps of earth’ in a forrest in Beit Shemesh, 23 miles from Jerusalem.
And an arrested member of the cult — also now in their 60s — reportedly implicated Berland this week.
According to the Times of Israel Berland further buried his self during questioning, revealing details of both the cases.
Judge Elad Lang said: ‘There [is]He had reasonable suspicion that the accused was guilty of offences. He confessed to it and gave details.
Berland founded the Vigilante group Shivu Banim. It was well-known for using violence to intimidate police Haredi standards. They terrorized Jerusalem’s orthodox neighborhoods for more 30 years
Berland, who had previously been charged with rape, returned to Israel in 2016. After female members of his cult accused him sexually of offences, Berland fled the country in 2013.
After being accused of sexual offences towards female members of the cult, Berland fled Israel in 2013.
He travelled around the US, Italy, Switzerland and Morocco, where he was exiled by King Mohammed XI.
The former Rabbi — who still broadcasts prayers on his website from prison — then hopped from Egypt, to Zimbabwe, then on to South Africa and finally the Netherlands.
Berland confessed to rape charges when he returned to Israel in 2016.
He was sentenced to 18 months for two counts each of ‘indecent acts’, and one count of assault.
Israeli authorities arrested him again in 2020 and he was convicted of fraud, exploitation, attempted intimidation, tax offences and money laundering.