Couple found guilty in murder that shocked Israel

An Israeli court on Thursday convicted a mother and grandfather over the murder of four-year-old Rose Pizem, whose body was discovered in 2008, hidden in a suitcase at the bottom of a Tel Aviv river.

Rose disappeared in May 2008 prompting a massive search. Her body was not discovered until the following September when divers trawled the Yarkon River.

On Thursday, a district court found Rose's grandfather, Ronny Ron, guilty of murder and her mother, Marie-Charlotte Renault, guilty of plotting the crime, according to the court's ruling.

Both face possible life sentences.

Police investigators earlier said Ron's son and Rose's mother married as teenagers in France after their daughter was born. The couple visited Israel, where the mother fell in love with her Israeli father-in-law and moved in with him.

The father returned to France with Rose, but her mother won a French court order for the girl to live with her and the grandfather in Israel, added the investigators.

The case shocked Israel and sparked a national debate on child abuse.