GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #2

[ToutCa]

A poor Puerto Rican girl? I thought she had never been out of the USA? She was from Puerto Rico?

She is American and of Puerto Rican descent. NYC has been full of Puerto Ricans for decades. Oh, and by the way, Puerto Ricans are American citizens.

 

[blossomfish]

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping us informed on this case, and especially to the translators. As I have been following the news, it feels like a roller coaster - every day something new which seems to contradict the news from day before.

My impressions to date: I still feel uneasy about TK and wonder how they can say he is not a suspect when DNA evidence will take another 2 months? Also why has his story changed (first reports saying no romantic relationship with SS and now there is?). I also did not like the short answer when SS's husband inquired as to here whereabouts: I don't know. Does not seem like he was concerned about helping find her, with this brief answer. And the way he said he was on his way to meet her on the 21st...

However, we don't have all the emails/correspondence so it is difficult to find answers. I appreciate everyone's thoughtful info and insights and hope the truth will be revealed about what really happened to Sarai.

Another impression I had was that the city walls where Sarai was found seem like such a historically important part of the city, that I was surprised to see them overrun with homeless people, and not maintained (overgrown plants). As a tourist, this is something I would really be interested in seeing and learning about... Maybe in the future this will be turned around. I am glad that they are installing the cameras there now.

 

[ThinkHard]

And I really wish we knew for sure about the shoes she was wearing...

I feel like that would rule out some things.

I mean if her pants were off, her shoes must have been off, how'd they get off? Was she already dead?.....could be staged to look like a rape.

If her shoes were off and it was random, and they were taken off when she was alive, then maybe more then one person was involved, because someone couldn't have held her down while removing them, at least I wouldn't think, I think you'd need two people at least.

IF she was being intimate with someone in that private spot...her shoes could have been taken off willingly before ths escalated in an attack.

And if her she's were not there at the scene at all....perhaps she was killed elsewhere and dumped. Soil sample on the bottom would have shown that whatever was found on them didn't match the location of her body.

So that all being said I really wish we knew more about the shoes she was wearing.

 

[KuriousKev]

There we go. I actually feel the same as you.

I get that. But photography was the means by which she was filling a more important void in her life. Because of photography she was getting lots of attention from men. Are there no women in Turkey, A'dam, Germany that take pictures? I'm sure there are...but yet she never established the same ties with them.

So, if during the trip she had the opportunity to hang out with some of her new friends (or other friends she met there)...then photography would have taken a back seat to that. Again, just my opinion.

 

[bet2173]

Unless your marriage is on the rocks and what you're really enticed by is all the foreign guys queuing up for your attention -- with, you thought, no bad consequences for adventures because you were alone, thousands of miles from anyone you knew. . .

She does, I must say, flirted a bit on instagram. One of them (gregs1212) invites her to listen to his band just after commenting her picture. The other one (rocklayer2) tells her that her beauty is definitely makes her stand out in a crowd.

 

[ThinkHard]

:furious:n

A poor Puerto Rican girl? I thought she had never been out of the USA? She was from Puerto Rico?

I believe she was of Puerto Rican decent, but had not ever been there.

Also Puerto Rico is technically a US territory and considered the US. But I believe it was said she never even left NYC before (who knows)

 

[bourne]

I'm assuming this is the same witness/set of events from a few pages back. The witness at that time stated they first saw SS with this man- thought nothing of it- and then saw her with the same man and 7 of his friends several days later. The witness claimed to have decided to report the incident to LE after the 2nd sighting (and news reports that SS had gone missing) because, claimed the person, this group had attacked women in the past.

What makes me doubt this witness- in addition to the point you just made about the fact that SS couldn't have been at Topkapi on the 21st- is that the witness didn't think anything of the alleged encounter the first time he/she saw SS and the man together. If the man and his friends have been known to victimize women in the past, why wouldn't the witness have been concerned after seeing SS with this man the first time? According to the witness' own statement- they saw SS with the man the first time, but thought nothing of it.

How do you see a woman with a known abuser and think nothing of it?

The same way most people turn and walk quickly away when they witness a man being rough with a woman on the streets because they believe it's none of their business and that's between the couple. Some people don't want to get involved until something real bad, like a death, happens. Otherwise they turn on mute and ignore.

 

[ToutCa]

Also Puerto Rico is technically a US territory and considered the US. But I believe it was said she never even left NYC before (who knows)

Correct. Puerto Rico is the USA, as an American you do not need a passport to go there as you are not considered to be leaving the country.

I don't know if SS ever went there. ThinkHard, where did you hear she never left NYC? That's new to me. I only heard it was her first time out of the country.

 

[CMac2]

The same way most people turn and walk quickly away when they witness a man being rough with a woman on the streets because they believe it's none of their business and that's between the couple. Some people don't want to get involved until something real bad, like a death, happens. Otherwise they turn on mute and ignore.

But the witness (if indeed there was one) didn't say they chose to ignore it. They said "I didn't think anything of it". Even if you're choosing to turn a blind eye to a lone woman in the company of a known predator, that's not the same thing as thinking nothing of it.

 

[ToutCa]

I think Taylan/Tarkan is a real world-class jerk, but if the State Prosecutor says he's not a suspect, that worries me. Maybe he is just a very unlucky world-class jerk?

Maybe the DNA evidence is pointing to someone else?

Either way, I really bet we will hear of a simultaneous arrest and announcement that DNA evidence nailed someone very soon. I would think it would be within days at most if not sooner.

 

[ThinkHard]

I get that. But photography was the means by which she was filling a more important void in her life. Because of photography she was getting lots of attention from men. Are there no women in Turkey, A'dam, Germany that take pictures? I'm sure there are...but yet she never established the same ties with them.

So, if during the trip she had the opportunity to hang out with some of her new friends (or other friends she met there)...then photography would have taken a back seat to that. Again, just my opinion.

I did notice she has Turkish female friends on her IG account. We haven't heard she met up with them in Istanbul but that doesn't mean she didn't.

In general I will say this about you g Turkish women, they are not always too keen on befriending American girls. They see them there to steal there men. I can't tell you how many weird comments I got from Turkish girls just because one of their guy friends was trying to talk to me in a bar, even when I was there with the few female Turkish friends I had. All the Turkish girls I was friends with I met through a friend of the family I lived with or a friend of theirs.

Also I just want to add Turkish women tend to have much more of a jealous streak in them when it comes to who there bf hangs out with. When two people are in a relationship and they are hanging out in mixed company usually their significant other is with them.

I'm sure there are plenty of non jealous Turkish men and women, but I tended to see a fair amount of this in my time there.

 

[CMac2]

I'm going back to the idea Taylan isn't involved or at least not directly involved...my two strongest possibilities at this point are:

It was another of her online friends who she met in turkey, who maybe was jealous of Taylan, or mad she wouldn't agree to stay with him...

Or

She was the victim of a group organized scam that Taylan or another IGer may or may not be part of and the scene was staged.

If Taylan isn't involved, he is the most unlucky SOB on the planet. I just cannot wrap my brain around the idea that with all the various circumstances prior to her murder- each one of which he's standing directly in the center of- that this final act against her was done without him being a part of it.

 

[bet2173]

I don't mean there would be a history of "airport waiting room" photos, but a history of "times that a normal adult would be bored and playing with their phone to pass the time" photos. Was she the sort of IGer who would post random pics of her current situation during times one would expect to be fairly boring?

I mean some people are like that. My facebook feed is groaning under the weight of my sister's pictures of her lunch, the traffic she's stuck in, and her cube at work. Whereas I've never once posted a picture like that. People are different, and I don't think there's really a "most people" behavior when it comes to that. I'm just wondering if the evidence of Sarai's history on IG seems to suggest that she would post random pictures like that when bored. If she's not the type to do that, then there's nothing strange about her not posting pics. It would be out of character for her. She posted some pics from Amsterdam trains that were quite artistic and in line with a photo challenge someone else had invited her to participate in. Looking back through her history, this seems par for the course with her. JMO.

The point is not whether or not to post pictures of boredom or random ones. When you look at her history on Instagram you can see that other than the wall art captures she was into the abstract views like bridges, railways, buildings. In one of her pictures she captures the Braclay building while she was in the car and was mentioning to one of her followers that she will go there again to take another shot. So she did not miss the oppurtunity to capture that building/ the the thing she likes even when she was driving in NYC.

We didn't expect her a shot of her socks or anything when she was in the waiting room but given that this is her first time abroad you look around with a more curious eye/ more than in your hometown. She was in Istanbul and she posted only 5 photos, I still think that is strange.

 

[ThinkHard]

Have they reported how many pictures she took? Or are you just going by the number of pictures she uploaded to the IG website?

No I wasn't commenting on how many pictures she took. But on how many pictures she posted to IG.

And just pointing out 2 weeks in one place 6 pictures posted, 3 days in another place 5 pictures posted.

I'm sure she took many photos she didn't post. But for an avid daily Instagram poster the ratio is curious.

 

[bourne]

State Prosecutor proves NY Post "reporting" inaccurate
---------------------------------

But State Prosecutor Huseyin Kaplan insisted that the man, identified only as Taylan K., is not considered a prime suspect.

Kaplan said nothing Taylan, whom Sierra met online weeks before she arrived in Istanbul, told cops raised any red flags.


..

Kaplan knocked down reports that Sierra met with criminal types during her Turkish vacation.

"When we look at what she did, she went to cafes. She went to shops," said Kaplan. "Right now, we don't see anything that she was involved in the drug trade or anything like that."


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...-sarai-sierra-article-1.1257628#ixzz2KELT1H4q

Can't believe the state prosecutor in Turkey said that Taylan did not raise any red flags. This guy had a relationship with the murdered woman. He was the last to communicate with her. He directed her to meet him where her dead body was found. He asked her about wifi, encouraging her to wander about the ruins and caves to find a wifi-accessible area. Etc. I'm certain they'll find his semen and DNA all over her and hopefully under her fingernails.

What more do they need to be convinced that this guy is the most likely suspect?

 

[Hexe]

Hello again...and thanks for welcoming to the forum.

Just wanted to comment on a couple of themes that keep coming up:

1) camera/no camera, not enough photos, etc: She was a NOVICE, please don't forget that. If she were an established photographer with years of experience, then all those items would be interesting to dissect. But she had been playing around with photography for a couple of months.

Actually the novice photogs tend to put online more photos than the seasoned ones. More experienced you are, you look at your work more critically, so the amount of pics that end up in the net and not in the rubbish bin gets actually smaller.

And when you are a novice you see pictures, pictures everywhere and you are trying to capture them all and pretty often, not knowing much about the technical side of photography you tend to overlook some blunders, that would be immediately spotted by someone more experienced. You know, bad light, not sharp enough, all that stuff that might seem minute.

So yes, I am surprised too that Sarai took so few pictures, and where in Amsterdam and Istanbul, two incredibly beautiful cities full of, let's say, photo potential.

 

[Gio]

I think Taylan/Tarkan is a real world-class jerk, but if the State Prosecutor says he's not a suspect, that worries me. Maybe he is just a very unlucky world-class jerk?

Maybe the DNA evidence is pointing to someone else?

Either way, I really bet we will hear of a simultaneous arrest and announcement that DNA evidence nailed someone very soon. I would think it would be within days at most if not sooner.

What leads you to believe he's a "world-class jerk"?

Let's for a second believe that a girl he just met online a few months ago comes to his country, meets him for a drink, they're intimate, and the next day she's missing, and police are looking for you.

As a guy, I think I'd be a little startled by the whole thing. I just meet a girl and now I'm the prime suspect in her disappearance (murder). Who wouldn't be a little apprehensive about the whole thing?

Not saying he isn't guilty...but if he's innocent, then I'm not totally shocked by his behavior (keeping in mind that we haven't actually heard from him directly, everything we hear is second/third-hand.

 

[ToutCa]

My impressions to date: I still feel uneasy about TK and wonder how they can say he is not a suspect when DNA evidence will take another 2 months? Also why has his story changed (first reports saying no romantic relationship with SS and now there is?). I also did not like the short answer when SS's husband inquired as to here whereabouts: I don't know. Does not seem like he was concerned about helping find her, with this brief answer. And the way he said he was on his way to meet her on the 21st...

Maybe "suspect" has different connotations in Turkey and is too strong a word in Turkish for Taylan/Tarkan's current status. The fact is, they took blood and sperm samples from him for DNA so they are considering him.

Someone way upthread alluded to this -- maybe Taylan/Tarkan told Turkish LE the "Jan. 20 sex with SS club bathroom" story from the start.

Originally, Turkish LE said something like Taylan/Tarkan stated he had a relationship but it was not romantic and they were "just friends". He always said they were "together" on Jan. 20.

That seems to leave a lot of wiggle room. I suspect they did not release the full statement in order not to embarrass SS and her husband unnecessarily.

The latest version of Taylan/Tarkan's statements seemed to build a little more. . .uh. . .detail and specificity into the earlier generalities.

Taylan/Tarkan strikes me as a world-class jerk, and he has been my suspect #1 all along, but I will say that it is very possible his statements to LE have been consistent all along. And that's either because he's telling the truth (innocent) or has crafted a very clever cover story (guilty).

 

[ThinkHard]

Can't believe the state prosecutor in Turkey said that Taylan did not raise any red flags. This guy had a relationship with the murdered woman. He was the last to communicate with her. He directed her to meet him where her dead body was found. He asked her about wifi, encouraging her to wander about the ruins and caves to find a wifi-accessible area. Etc. I'm certain they'll find his semen and DNA all over her and hopefully under her fingernails.

What more do they need to be convinced that this guy is the most likely suspect?

I don't think we do know that HE directed her to the walls or that he encouraged her to walk around to find a wifi area at the walls.

I doubt he would have encouraged her to find a wifi area at the walls, as there would have been no wifi area there. Also he just said meet you "there" we are only speculating "there" could be the walls. In his version "there" was the eminonu side of the Galata bridge.

 

[ToutCa]

What leads you to believe he's a "world-class jerk"?

Let's for a second believe that a girl he just met online a few months ago comes to his country, meets him for a drink, they're intimate, and the next day she's missing, and police are looking for you.

As a guy, I think I'd be a little startled by the whole thing. I just meet a girl and now I'm the prime suspect in her disappearance (murder). Who wouldn't be a little apprehensive about the whole thing?

Not saying he isn't guilty...but if he's innocent, then I'm not totally shocked by his behavior (keeping in mind that we haven't actually heard from him directly, everything we hear is second/third-hand.

It's just my opinion. His story is he banged a girl in a club bathroom that was supposedly a good friend of his. Then when he heard she was missing, he tried to erase his email and online contact information and hid until the FBI tracked him down.

He showed no interest in what happened to her and did not try to help find her when she was missing.

I understand others may feel differently, but my opinion is that makes a person a world-class jerk.