Bnei Brak kollel killer gets psychiatric order, not prison

Criminal proceedings have been halted against Guy Achtelinger, who murdered avreich Rav Yishai Pur zt"l at Kollel Chazon Ish in Bnei Brak in front of the victim's young son.

A psychiatric evaluation determined that Achtelinger committed the murder while in a psychotic state, a condition he remains in to this day. That finding led the court to stop the criminal case.

Instead of standing trial and serving a prison sentence, the judges signed an order sending Achtelinger to 25 years of forced psychiatric hospitalization, the maximum period allowed under such an order.

The murder took place on May 20, 2026, when Achtelinger arrived at Kollel Chazon Ish on HaAri Street in Bnei Brak armed with a knife. According to the indictment filed against him, he crept up behind the avreich, who was sitting on a bench learning with his 13-year-old son, and stabbed him repeatedly in the neck and back.

Rav Pur zt"l was evacuated in critical condition to Tel Hashomer Hospital, where his death was pronounced. His son witnessed the entire attack from right beside him. Immediately after the stabbing, Achtelinger fled the kollel and entered an abandoned building nearby, where he hid the knife and a blood-soaked glove.

The killer as captured on security camera (Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson)

The investigation revealed that about a week before the murder, while both were at the kollel, Achtelinger had threatened Rav Pur and told him he would cut off his head. The two knew each other from learning Torah together at the kollel.

Achtelinger was arrested hours after the attack in Beit Shemesh, following an extensive police manhunt. During the legal proceedings, repeated difficulties arose in conducting a psychiatric evaluation. The judge issued four separate orders to transfer the suspect for psychiatric examination under hospitalization, but the district psychiatrist refused again and again to carry out the order.

Ultimately, the completed psychiatric evaluation determined Achtelinger's mental state at the time of the act, leading the court to halt criminal proceedings and order his forced hospitalization for 25 years.