GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #1

[ToutCa]

Lavy, thank you. Thank goodness I got the translation right for once!

We don't know if Taylan really said it.

It's all over the shady Turkish press. They run about 50/50 true/nonsense.

IF he said it, and it's a big IF, it doesn't mean it happened.

If he said it -- and he's the perp -- it's a common criminal gambit to explain away the presence of DNA or sperm on the victim. (Rape? I didn't rape her, why, we had consensual sex just the day before!) Sad to say. . .

 

[lavy]

LAVY or YASHIM, can you provide good translations of these quotes? And tell us, in your opinions as native speakers, do they show Taylan alleging consensual sexual contact with SS on Jan. 20?

If quote is true (we don't know), and Taylan is guilty, this could be a way he is trying to explain away presence of his sperm or his DNA on her body. Keep in mind, quote could be false, and Taylan could be innocent and telling the truth.

My opinion: I wouldn't believe these at this point. I think what happened is they took Taylan again to be questioned , press knows his sperm was taken yesterday. They added one to one and came up a theory.

I wan't to say they are saying it is been learned, alleged. Who learned? From where? Why none of the mainstream press don't publish it?
And then I remember most of the other details were first mentioned in these kind of sources before they were everywhere and they might know somebody from inside. But this is a small possibility.

Ugh. I'm calling shenanigans on this alleged quote. I'd bet a substantial amount of money she did NOT have sex in a bathroom in a nightclub with TK.

(Please note: I'm not questioning the translation at all, I'm questioning the truth of what the paper printed.)

Me too.

First of all I thought she was seen on 20th January night around 11pm buying food. There was a video somewhere I am sure. Also seen by the airbnb guy. She was alone.

I'll try to find the video.

 

[lavy]

Lavy, thank you. Thank goodness I got the translation right for once!

We don't know if Taylan really said it.

It's all over the shady Turkish press. They run about 50/50 true/nonsense.

IF he said it, and it's a big IF, it doesn't mean it happened.

If he said it -- and he's the perp -- it's a common criminal gambit to explain away the presence of DNA or sperm on the victim. (Rape? I didn't rape her, why, we had consensual sex just the day before!) Sad to say. . .

I think the same. If it is true Taylan is trying to explain the presence of evidence. If Taylan is the perp, I think he must be very stupid to think they will buy this. Police could easily investigate it. Also I am sure the nightclub would have security cameras.

If Taylan is not involved at all, he is very unlucky.

 

[tardislass]

My opinion: I wouldn't believe these at this point. I think what happened is they took Taylan again to be questioned , press knows his sperm was taken yesterday. They added one to one and came up a theory.

I wan't to say they are saying it is been learned, alleged. Who learned? From where? Why none of the mainstream press don't publish it?
And then I remember most of the other details were first mentioned in these kind of sources before they were everywhere and they might know somebody from inside. But this is a small possibility.



Me too.

First of all I thought she was seen on 20th January night around 11pm buying food. There was a video somewhere I am sure. Also seen by the airbnb guy. She was alone.

I'll try to find the video.

Didn't her landlord say she didn't do the late night clubbing? I seem to recall someone said she usually was in her apartment late at night. I'm very skeptical about those quotes just because there hasn't been much to report in the last day and sex sells. Furthermore, sadly it ties in with Western women being easy, a not uncommon view there.

 

[ToutCa]

And then I remember most of the other details were first mentioned in these kind of sources before they were everywhere.

Yes! That's precisely the problem right there.

I give these quotes maybe a 40-50% of being close to what he said. I know, I know, not very strong. Your reservations are well-founded, but unfortunately, it's the totally unreliable tabloid Turkish press that has broken all the details in this story (as well as spread all the nonsense).

How do you live with such a frustrating press on a daily basis, lavy???

 

[ToutCa]

Didn't her landlord say she didn't do the late night clubbing? I seem to recall someone said she usually was in her apartment late at night.

Her friend in the states said that, the one that was supposed to go on the trip but bailed. So that doesn't necessarily mean much, though like you said she attributes it to the landlord as well...

See post 501 in this thread for the quote:

RODRIGUEZ: Sarai is adventurous and she gets it in her mind she's going to do it. She did a lot of homework before she left. She did a lot of researching about the area, about where she was going to stay, the safest places to go, the time of days to travel.

She wasn't out at night and the landlord's been able to confirm that. She was home. She was home by herself, so this isn't a party girl. This isn't a girl that was going out there to have good times. She was out there to check out the architecture and the culture and just to get her European trip in.

LINK

MOO, like yours, is that the allegation of nightclub sex is a fabrication -- the question is was it a lie by Taylan or by the press? You're banking it was the press, but I think it could go either way...

 

[bet2173]

According to Hurriyet newspaper SS's body will be taken from the Armenian Church and be taken to the Istanbul Ataturk Airport at 5 p.m (8 am US time). She will fly to New York, tomorrow morning.

 

[KuriousKev]

Didn't her landlord say she didn't do the late night clubbing? I seem to recall someone said she usually was in her apartment late at night. I'm very skeptical about those quotes just because there hasn't been much to report in the last day and sex sells. Furthermore, sadly it ties in with Western women being easy, a not uncommon view there.

Part of exploring new cultures is experiencing the nightlife. I seriously doubt that SS didn't party at least on a couple of occasions while abroad. Also maybe she wanted to celebrate knowing that she would be returning home the next day. Just some possibilities.

 

[tardislass]

A poster on another site has reported there have been random attacks on people at that site by addicts in the last 3-5 years. Everyone managed to escape. It wasn't made public til now. But this person said that they didn't know this area was dangerous either.

 

[ami]

Part of exploring new cultures is experiencing the nightlife. I seriously doubt that SS didn't party at least on a couple of occasions while abroad. Also maybe she wanted to celebrate knowing that she would be returning home the next day. Just some possibilities.

Of course she could have clubbed and partied on the 20th if she wanted to, but if she did then this is the first we're hearing of it - her landlord (who seemed to be on site, and apparently saw her comings and goings) didn't mention it, she didn't tell family about it and Taylan didn't mention it in his explanation of their activities from what we've heard via the press and police statements.

 

[bet2173]

MOO, like yours, is that the allegation of nightclub sex is a fabrication -- the question is was it a lie by Taylan or by the press? You're banking it was the press, but I think it could go either way...

The problem of the Turkish press is they do not know the concept of "confirmation" very well. An unconfirmed word, statement could even make the headlines sometimes. That's why it could be a lie of the press. But that does not mean that Taylan is innocent in this. Given all his past behaviour in the incidence makes him a very dodgy suspect.

 

[bet2173]

According to Aksam newspaper, the police will follow a "cell phone base investigation" which was used before to find two murderers in the past. With this technique they will investigate all the cell phone conversations made on 21st of Jan. in the whole Cankurturan area. Then they will go over a list of users who made these calls and call in the ones who could be a suspect.

 

[ThinkHard]

My issue with the junkie theory is tht if someone was messed up so bad to harm her so violently, would they have also been in a right enough state of mind to also conceal the body? I feel like it can't be both.

 

[Rolandred]

NY Post this morning:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/staten_island/turkey_ma_shady_pals_fufaVJvDX6chDrmhlmYZyL

 

[ToutCa]

I don't mean to muddy the waters further, but a bombshell report in the NY Post this morning claims that the FBI doubts the innocence of the trip.

It claims she met with "a criminal element" in Amsterdam/Istanbul.

It claims that drug trafficking is suspected, and very much still on the table.

It claims she and her husband had severe money problems (bankruptcy in the past, etc.).

It claims that her husband and brother have been "cooperative" with LE but not "helpful", i.e. that they are holding info back.

Almost none of us, including me, want to hear this at this point. But I believe in putting out ALL the information for consideration.

The NY Post is a shade more reputable than the sensationalizing Turkish press, but it also has been known to publish nonsense on occasion.

Here's the article: LINK

 

[ThinkHard]

Also I asked this late last night, but we know there were reports that her pants were found next to her. Where were the shoes she was wearing?
How did they get the pants off without removing the shoes?

If she was fighting while they were doing this someone must have been holding her down.
Or was she render unconscious or deceased when she was undressed?
Or did some serious of circumstances lead to her willingly taking off her shoes?

I wonder if they were found or not. It would be weird for someone to take her shoes. Could they have fingerprints? What about soil samples on the soles?

 

[belimom]

I don't mean to muddy the waters further, but a bombshell report in the NY Post this morning claims that the FBI doubts the innocence of the trip.

It claims she met with "a criminal element" in Amsterdam/Istanbul.

It claims that drug trafficking is suspected, and very much still on the table.

It claims she and her husband had severe money problems (bankruptcy in the past, etc.).

It claims that her husband and brother have been "cooperative" with LE but not "helpful", i.e. that they are holding info back.

Almost none of us, including me, want to hear this at this point. But I believe in putting out ALL the information for consideration.

The NY Post is a shade more reputable than the sensationalizing Turkish press, but it also has been known to publish nonsense on occasion.

Here's the article: LINK

Not sure I know what to think, unless there is a direct FBI or LE quote. I know that I suspected at some point that she may have been doing this, and that was my husband's first thought (due to the quick side trips to A'dam and Munich). But I dismissed the idea eventually and decided she was just naive. If this is the only news outlet reporting the drugs as being a viable theory of LE, then I'm not sure how much faith to place in it.
Here is some more info from the link above - it does make me wonder again if this could be true (cutting the trip short maybe b/c she realized what deep chit she was in over there?):

The friend, Maggie Rodriguez, told The Post that Sierra began planning the trip “a few months ago” and that she alerted Sierra early on that she couldn’t afford to go with her.

But the previously unemployed Sierra, who declared bankruptcy in 2005, forged ahead.

(snip)

Sierra told friends she planned to stay overseas for three full weeks, but after 12 days, posted online that she “sadly” had to cut the trip short.​

 

[ThinkHard]

From poking around istagram last night I found a few things that were interesting

Quotes from here account
6w before her trip, a man from Amsterdam asks her how her plans are coming for her trip she responds
"We'll I figured the days I want to go there but I'm having trouble booking a train ticket from the US so I may have to book it while I'm out there which I'm trying to avoid. I hate not having it. Planned LOL kinda neurotic like that"

4w agao while instanbul to a friend back home
" you can txt me on my iPad". (Possibly another way she was communicating with people?)

3w ago she has a picture up, someone asks her of its Hagia Sophia (it's not, not even close)
She says "I have no idea if its Hagia I'm like the most uniformed tourist here"
(I thought that was weird since she supposedly did so much research?)

Ad this one is just plane creepy....she is doing this photo challenge to get really low to the ground she has one from water, one from a city street, one from tracks.....on the tracks one there is a conversation joking about .... Is this low enough? Se then writes "next time ill try to get under the tracks".... I don't think this one has anything to do with it...but it is a little creepy foreshadowing since it was reported wood from the tracks was placed on her to conceal her.

 

[Rolandred]

I don't mean to muddy the waters further, but a bombshell report in the NY Post this morning claims that the FBI doubts the innocence of the trip.

It claims she met with "a criminal element" in Amsterdam/Istanbul.

It claims that drug trafficking is suspected, and very much still on the table.

It claims she and her husband had severe money problems (bankruptcy in the past, etc.).

It claims that her husband and brother have been "cooperative" with LE but not "helpful", i.e. that they are holding info back.

Almost none of us, including me, want to hear this at this point. But I believe in putting out ALL the information for consideration.

The NY Post is a shade more reputable than the sensationalizing Turkish press, but it also has been known to publish nonsense on occasion.

Here's the article: LINK

Yes - the Post must check their stories...especially mentioning FBI - they do not want any lawsuits.

 

[ToutCa]

Also I asked this late last night, but we know there were reports that her pants were found next to her. Where were the shoes? How did they get the pants off without removing the shoes?

I guarantee you every molecule at that crime scene is having every test known to LE done to it.

The shoes are a mystery. Maybe she was wearing a kind that could fall off in the first seconds of a struggle. If not, and it turns out the reports of jeans removed are correct, perhaps someone removed shoes and jeans after beating her into submission -- to humiliate the victim or to make it look like a rape.

Just guessing.

Like you said, what was missing from the crime scene has not been officially made public, other than the iPad and phone.

Some reports have said also missing were pair #2 of shoes, bag for shoes, and bomber jacket. Other reports have said that stuff was there. Mystery.