A special team of Jerusalem police indicated today that they had no clues to the murder last Thursday night of two nuns, Barbara Vespikov,68, and her daughter, Veroniko, 43, whose bodies were found sprawled on the floor of their convent cottage in Ein Kerem, in southwest Jerusalem. Both had been stabbed repeatedly.
The runs belonged to the Russian Orthodox convent, located near the Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem. The mother and daughter lived in a relatively remote part of the monastery which police said was one of the reasons no one heard any screams from the victims’ cottage.
The murder was discovered by another nun, who went to the cottage after neither of the victims came to morning prayers. The shocked nun and her fellow-nuns did not immediately inform the police. All of the nuns were evacuated to the Soviet Mission in Central Jerusalem where police placed special guards. Police said they suspected the killer was either insane or an extreme nationalist. Since nothing was taken, the possibility of robbery was ruled out. Police also reported no signs of a struggle in the cottage.
The convent, along with other Christian institutions in Jerusalem, recently became the target of harassment by fanatics, who painted swastikas on the convent walls with the slogan, “Russians, go home” The victims reportedly filed a complaint a year ago that unidentified persons threw rocks at their cottage.
BURG CONDEMNS THE KILLINGS
Religious Affairs Minister Yosef Burg called the killings “a lowly and despicable murder of believers in the Holy Land” and stressed that Israel “follows a policy of freedom of religion for all sects and races. “
Daniel Rossing, head of the Minister’s Christian communities department, expressed “shock and revulsion” against the murder of “persons whose life was dedicated to religious contemplation ” and called the killings “a great blow to the confidence that Israel has done so much to inspire among the Christian communities.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
