Police and Turkish media on Wednesday continued to disagree on what happened to New Yorker Sarai Sierra as authorities finalized preparations to return her body to the US.
The last time Sierra, 33, contacted her family was January 21, the day before she was supposed to head home after a three-week vacation in Istanbul. She was found dead last weekend behind the ancient city walls in the seedy neighborhood of Cankurtaran, about one mile from where she was last seen on security camera footage.
The case of Sierra's disappearance and murder has proven mysterious and difficult to follow, compounded by often-conflicting reports in Turkish media.
Each passing day raises more questions than answers in an investigation that has dominated Turkish media coverage since Sierra went missing more than two weeks ago.
Many of these claims, for example, have focused on the condition in which Sierra's body was found.
After police on Sunday confirmed Sierra died from a fatal blow to the head and wasn't stabbed or shot to death as reported, news outlets began differing on just how many injuries the American tourist sustained to her face, head and body.
Yener Ülgütol, deputy manager for the İstanbul Police Department's Public Security Branch Office, shook his head. “She has one large, serious injury here,” he said on Wednesday, pointing to the left side of his own head. “That's it. There are no injuries to her face, legs, arms or other parts of her body.”
The discoloration and swelling to Sierra's face that some newspapers, including one based in the US, have reported is due to the severity of the blunt force injury to her heard.
In the last few days, many news outlets have questioned whether or not Sierra was raped. A report on Wednesday claimed even Sierra's husband, Steven, was unsure. This debate, in particular, perplexes Ülgütol.
“She was not raped,” he pressed. “Both the public prosecutor and autopsy have revealed this.” The Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) completed the autopsy earlier this week and will release the more extensive report within three months.
Though the autopsy report is not finished, Ülgütol said preliminary examinations make him believe Sierra was killed on January 21, the day she went missing.
Ülgütol, who said he is not sure where many news outlets get their information, told Today's Zaman he doesn't pay much attention to the claims being circulated. “Who saw the body? Who saw where she was found?” he asked of the questionable reports surrounding Sierra's murder. “How do they know?”
According to Ülgütol, officials in the US encouraged Sierra's family to not follow what is being reported in the media. “I think that's a good idea,” he said.
What Sierra was wearing when police found her body is not clear. Initially, news outlets reported and police confirmed she was fully clothed and still wearing her jewelry. But this original non-issue has become more controversial. Some media outlets say Sierra was missing her pants; others say they were simply pulled down. Still others say she was found wearing everything but her leather jacket.
Police officials equivocated this time. Ülgütol provided no comments on the matter other than asking, “Why does it matter if her pants was pulled up here or down here? We know she was not raped.”
All everyone can seem to agree upon is that Sierra's Samsung Galaxy cellphone and iPad are missing.
Ülgütol refused to comment on either Sierra's “private life” or details of the family and T.K.'s, the last person known to meet Sierra, statements made to the police.
He did, however, say the claim reported by some news organizations that a shopkeeper who allegedly met Sierra in the Sultanahmet area and made a statement to the police is false.
“I heard of this for the first time when I read the paper this morning,” Ülgütol said. “There was no such statement made to the police.”
Steven and Sierra's brother, David Jimenez, were expected to leave for the US on Wednesday. The body will be delivered to the family the following day.
From Zaman today (2/7)
