Anat Elimelech

Anat Elimelech (; 8 March 1974 – 2 December 1997) was an Israeli fashion model and an actress who played in commercials and television shows for children. Elimelech was a victim of a murder–suicide in 1997 in which her boyfriend David Afuta killed her and then committed suicide.

Biography Elimelech was born in Jerusalem in 1974 to Billy and Avi. In her youth, she studied in a high school in Gilo. In 1991, she won the first place in Jerusalem's "Miss Kenyon" beauty pageant, and then began modeling for the modeling agency "Look". During the Contest "Miss Kenyon" beauty pageant she met the successful hairdresser David Afuta (who had many high-profile clients such as the then Prime Minister's wife Sara Netanyahu amongst others ), who was 14 years older than her, and they soon became a couple.

In 1993, Elimelech participated in the Miss Israel beauty pageant and won the title "Queen of Grace" (מלכת החן).

In 1995, Elimelech received a lot of media exposure when she competed in an ongoing segment held during the Israeli version of the game show "Wheel of Fortune" during which contestants competed for the role of the new "Wheel Girl". Although she was very popular she eventually did not become the new "Wheel Girl".

In 1996, Elimelech participated in the children's video tape "Efrochim" (אפרוחים) together with Asi Levi, Sherry Brzezinski and Sharon Tzur. During the same year she also participated in the children's video tape "Making A Movie: Golden Heart Flower" (עושים סרט: פרח לב הזהב) together with Vicki Tavor, Mali Chofesh and Tamar Milstein.

During 1996, Elimelech also starred in the TV commercials for the Israeli supermarket chain "Hiperkol" (היפרכל).

During the summer of 1997, Elimelech hosted the TV show "HaChofesh HaGadol" (החופש הגדול) in the Israeli Educational Television. That same year, her relations with David Afuta worsened and as a result subsequently she moved back in with her father and his second wife. During the same year Elimelech was supposed to participate in the annual Israeli singing show "The Festigal" with the song "Ballerina", which subsequently was performed by the participants of the Festigal in her memory after her death. On the evening of December 1, 1997, the day before her death, Elimelech appeared along with the other participants of the Festigal Dudu Topaz's entertainment show on Channel 2.

The murder and the investigation In the morning of December 2, 1997 Elimelech was found dead along with her boyfriend, David Afuta, in their home in the Ramat Beit HaKerem neighborhood in Jerusalem. She was shot once while he was shot twice. Eventually, on 1 March 2011 justice Menachem Cohen formally ruled that the murder was committed by David Aftuta who afterwards committed suicide. He also determined that his brother, Joseph Afuta, tampered with the evidence in the crime scene with the intention of incriminating Elimelech. As a result, the court ruled that Joseph would compensate Elimelech's family with 300,000 NIS.