JERUSALEM — A 21-year-old Israeli, Yaniv Malka, sobbed uncontrollably last week after appearing in a London court, where he was charged with murdering a well-known television model and film actress in her apartment on Saturday of last week.

Malka, who was handcuffed and dressed in a white uniform, held his head in his hands and spoke only twice during his 10-minute court appearance — to confirm his name and that he lived in Israel. He did not apply for bail. Following the appearance, Malka could be heard sobbing hysterically and saying, "She's waiting for me now," as he was led away to his cell.

Malka was arrested after being coaxed down from the roof of a tower block near the model's apartment building in the trendy London district of Islington. It is believed that cuts to his wrists were self-inflicted. He was being held under an around-the-clock suicide watch.

Kadamba Simmons, 24, who appears in television advertisements for Pantene shampoo, was strangled to death, her naked body found hanging in the shower of her apartment.

In Migdal Ha'emek, the family of Malka was still in a state of shock on Wednesday of last week. Yaniv's father, schoolteacher Meir Malka, said he had only received one telephone call from the accused murderer, saying that he had been arrested.

"He's a boy who loves to be happy. I can't believe that he would be capable of anything like this," Meir Malka told reporters.

Simmons is the former girlfriend of a string of high-profile men, including the musician Liam Gallagher, from the group Oasis, former Bros singer Matt Goss and British boxing champion Naseem Hamed.

After meeting Hamed in 1995, she converted to Islam so that they could be "spiritually closer." In an interview at the time, she said the boxer had "made me realize I can trust and respect a man again."