Man who murdered wife suspected of hiding body

Police suspect that the body of a woman who was murdered last week by her husband in Bat Yam had been lying on the ground for a few days before it was reported to the police.

Tatianna Haikin, a Ukrainian immigrant to Israel, was allegedly murdered by her husband Igor Chepikov, whose jail detention was lengthened on Sunday morning by eight days.

He was additionally suspected of premeditating the murder in their apartment. Police reported that he had undergone an initial psychiatric evaluation and was investigated twice.

Numerous witnesses were called in and interrogated, but Chepikov’s daughter, who attended the court hearing, refused to speak.

When Haikin was found by police last week, Chepikov was visibly drunk and had reportedly been the one to dial for help. When he did so, he had given the police the wrong address after saying, “I killed my wife,” according to Ynet. They have two underaged children.

“Igor passed by here and told the neighbors that he had murdered her a few days ago,” Sophie, a friend of Tatianna, told Ynet last week. “He said it to men who were sitting on the road and drinking beer, and they didn’t understand.

“They asked him, ‘Why do you look so neglected? Is Tatianna not taking care of you? Are you drunk?’” she continued. “Then he told them that he murdered her. They told him, ‘Go, go to bed.’”

The defendant’s lawyer told the police that they should have tested him for alcohol, as Chepikov claims that he does not remember the murder because he was intoxicated. “The crime scene is very clear and the investigation must be sped up,” attorney Yael Finkelman-Nissan, Chepikov’s lawyer, said. “This is a suspect in solitary custody and because of coronavirus restrictions he does not go to court.”

Chepikov had previously been incarcerated for domestic abuse of Haikin in 2014, serving six months in prison.

Haikin was the fifth woman to be murdered in an act of domestic violence since the beginning of coronavirus restrictions in the country, and the second woman to be murdered within the same week.

The state comptroller’s report that was released last week revealed that one in every four women on average in Israel experiences sexual misconduct.