A man who allegedly brutally beat his wife to death with a hammer while their children slept in the same apartment has been seized by police.

Josiah Leitel, 35, reportedly told the police that he and his 31-year-old wife Darya Leitel rowed when he came home from his job at a nightclub at 5am and began drinking in Haifa, Israel, on Friday, 17th March.

Then – according to local media – he flew into a rage when his wife challenged him.

He allegedly strangled her and then snatched up a hammer and beat her to death.

The couple’s three daughters were sleeping just a few feet away in their rooms.

Leitel reportedly told the police: “I work in a nightclub. I came back around 5am completely sober.”

He went on: “I was sitting and drinking beer. One of our daughters woke up and my wife woke up, too.

“She saw me drinking and got angry at me.

“She asked, ‘Are you drinking again?’

“An argument started. She pushed me and then I pushed her back. I didn’t mean to kill her.”

After the attack, Leitel called police and paramedics who declared Darya dead at the scene.

Darya’s father Antoine reportedly told local media: “When they fought, he would leave the house and move to a different neighbourhood.”

He added: “She was with me last week and didn’t tell me there was a problem. She was the smiliest in the world. I don’t understand what happened to my daughter.

“Police officers came to me this morning and said ‘your daughter was murdered.’

“She didn’t tell me there was violence. She wanted to leave him and for that, he murdered her. I don’t have a daughter now. It’s awful.”

The couple were referred to welfare services in 2021 and Leitel had threatened to kill his wife in the past, according to local media.

The head of the Welfare Administration, Meira Kiperman, said: “The couple was referred to social services in 2021 as a result of a relationship crisis.”

Kiperman added: “The couple was treated throughout that year by social services on a number of levels.”

Darya had also previously complained that her husband had threatened her.

Darya had also previously complained that her husband had threatened her in the past, with local media reporting that he was currently being tried for the threats.

One of Darya’s friends, named as Daniella Mazor, reportedly said: “I’m not processing it.”

Daniella Mazor, a friend of Darya, said: “I saw it on the news and I came over here hoping it wasn’t her.

She added: “I saw it on the news and I came over here hoping it wasn’t her.

“Yesterday she was at my place until 7pm. There was no concern that something would happen to her otherwise I would never have allowed her to leave and I would have told her to stay at my place.”

Daniella said that Darya, who had reportedly been studying psychology and Spanish, was “a wonderful person, a dedicated mother to her three daughters and beautiful outside and in.”

Daniella added: “She knew that a breakup wouldn’t be easy, and she said she would do it soon.”

She said: “She was even looking for a new home. I didn’t know the suspect, the relationship between them wasn’t normal. She didn’t get the things she deserved, but she stayed for the girls. I didn’t like the quality of life she was living with. She knew she had to leave her husband but was looking for the right timing.”

The investigation is ongoing.