Police are investigating the possibility that terrorists were responsible for the death of an Israel Defense Force soldier, Hanoch Steve Denman, whose badly beaten body was discovered in a field of Kibbutz Farod near the Acre-Safad highway Monday night.
He was the second IDF soldier slain this month. Alexander Arad, 43, was fatally stabbed September 24 while trying to hitch a ride near Meggido. A suspect, arrested shortly after the crime, proved to be a Palestinian Arab from the West Bank with a previous record of terrorist offenses. He reportedly confessed.
But Denman, a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, was missing over a week before his body was found by Bedouin shepherds. Born in Holland to Christian parents, he came to Israel six years ago, converted to Judaism and joined the IDF. He lived alone in Acre and was not reported missing until he failed to return from leave to his military base on the Golan Heights. His parents have come to Israel.
The police offered few details of the murder save to say Denman was beaten around the head. Police sources said that he is believed to have been the victim of a terrorist attack but other lines of investigation are also being pursued.
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