The murderer of 20 year-old Israeli Shelly Dadon, hy”d, is expected to retract his confession on Monday, Channel 10 reports, ahead of the trial over the murder being held in the Haifa District Court.

Police found Dadon’s body in an abandoned Migdal Haemek parking lot on May 1. 

Dadon had no criminal record; she had been on her way to a job interview but did not make contact with her family for several hours.

Family say she tried to make contact, saying she was being strangled. When they found out that she had never shown up for the interview, they contacted police. Her body was found a short time later by patrolmen.

Dadon’s murder sparked controversy, after police made a series of confusing statements – saying first that the murder was an act of terror, then retracting it, then repeating those statements on more than one occasion. 

Family members later accused the Israel Police of covering up the murder in Israeli and international media to avoid backlash. 

34-year-old, Hussein Yousef Khalifa from the Arab village of Iblin in the Galilee, confessed to the murder in July after a long police search. 

Details of the murder indicate a gruesome and premeditated attack on Dadon. The indictment states that Khalifa “showed no mercy” on the 20-year old, whom he stabbed dozens of times for “nationalistic motivations.” 

Dadon was recognized as a terror victim shortly after the indictment was filed.