US murderer Samuel Sheinbein killed after shoot-out at Israel prison
Man who fled after gruesome Maryland murder was nearing eligibility for parole
Special forces raided a prison in central Israel after an inmate stole a gun, shot several guards and barricaded himself inside the compound, killing the man who was serving time for a gruesome murder carried out in the US.
Police identified the inmate as Samuel Sheinbein, an American who fled to Israel after murdering and dismembering another man in Maryland in 1997 and whose case sparked a high-profile row between the two nations.
Police special forces rushed to the Sharon Prison on Sunday in central Israel after Sheinbein stole a weapon and shot three guards, wounding two of them seriously. He then barricaded himself inside the compound where a stand-off ensued.
The inmate then opened fire again, wounding three more guards, before being shot. One of the wounded guards was said to be fighting for his life.
Sheinbein, 34, faced trial in Israel in 1999, two years after he fled to the country and successfully sought refuge from extradition, enraging US authorities. An Israeli court sentenced him to 24 years for the killing and dismemberment of Alfredo Enrique Tello, 19. His extradition to Maryland was blocked after a year-long battle between Israel and the US over an Israeli law that prohibited it.
Following that embarrassment, Israel changed its laws to allow the extradition of Israeli citizens on condition that they were returned to Israel to serve any sentence imposed.
Sheinbein admitted strangling Tello with a rope and hitting him several times with a sharp object. He then dismembered the body with an electric saw and burned it, authorities said.