Israeli police are moving to send key forensic evidence from the 2006 murder of Tair Rada HY”D to a specialized laboratory in the United States, marking a major step in the nearly 19-year-old case.
According to a Mako report, the package includes hair samples belonging to Rada and to an unidentified individual, plus additional crime-scene material that has never been tested.
The effort is part of a renewed investigation now run by the Central Unit of the Tel Aviv District, which took the file from the Northern District’s Central Unit in July. Detectives have spent recent months working with the Israel Police Forensic Identification Laboratory to sort through evidence that was never examined in the original probe.
The shipment still needs final approval from senior police officials. Testing costs are estimated at several hundred thousand shekels or more. Investigators hope the advanced analysis will produce information capable of breaking the case open.
A source familiar with the work said that since the file was transferred, a special team has reviewed mountains of documents, evidence, and findings, marking the critical items that still require examination. “Very few people are exposed to the renewed investigation. There is almost complete compartmentalization,” the source added. “We are talking about very expensive laboratory tests, but the goal of all of us is to get to the truth.”
Police are placing significant weight on the U.S. results and believe they could prove important to the continuation of the probe. At this stage, however, approval for the shipment has not yet been granted and there are no new findings to report.
