Twenty-six years after the murder of an Israeli woman, Miraim (Mimi) Sharon, who was brutally murdered in her apartment in The Hague in 1990, Holland’s authorities may ask Israel to exhume her body in order compare the DNA of a freshly arrested Israeli suspect.
The possible request comes half a year after the dramatic announcement by the Dutch police that they had arrested the Israeli Daniel (Danni) Amona on suspicion of her murder
“DNA could still be found under Sharon’s fingernails, since there is a possibility she struggled with her killer,” the authorities said.
According to the reports, the prosecutor submitted an official request for assistance from Israel on the case, which has hitherto eluded investigation teams and crime detectives.
However, the request needs to be approved by the judge. It remains unclear, therefore, when her body will be disinterred, if at all.
The 52-year-old Amona, who is suspected of the murder, was recently hospitalized and has remained in a coma for two weeks fighting for his life.
It is currently unknown what state he is now in. However, he was not present during discussions in The Hague over the matter.
The new development stems from the fact that DNA supposedly matching that of Amona’s was found on a cigarette butt that was located in Sharon’s apartment.
Nevertheless, question marks remain over whether this new discovery will prove robust enough to hold water in court. Moreover, even if the DNA does match, the task remains to demonstrate a direct link to the murder.
Amona denied any involvement whatsoever the entire time and if he did commit the crime, it is still unclear as to his possible motive.
Sharon left Israel in 1979. During a trip in Holland, she met a local artist and later married him, before she gave birth to a son and a daughter.
A few years later, the two separated.
On October 8, 1990, when riots broke out on the Temple Mount in which 17 Palestinians were killed, Sharon’s body was found in her apartment in The Hague.
Suspicion arose in the initial investigation that she was stabbed to death in a revenge attack for the incidents unfolding in Jerusalem, but the motive was later ruled out as a possibility.
Half a year ago, 26 years later, Dutch police announced that a man suspected of her murder had been arrested.
Amona, who is suspected of slitting Sharon’s throat, was a renowned criminal who had been in and out of prison in Israel since the age of 17.
He had been involved in a number of drug-related, violent and other crimes for which he served prolonged prison sentences. He was also considered a drug addict and begged a judge to allow him to attend a rehabilitation center in Jaffa.
From the outset of the investigation, Dutch police suspected that Sharon’s killer or killers were Israeli who fled back home after.
According to the police, Amona was first arrested immediately the murder, but was eventually discharged due to lack of evidence before returning to Israel.
