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

[belimom]

This one claims that DNA results are back and the dna found in her nails didn't match with any of the 22 including Taylan.

http://focushaber.com/dna-ornekleri-sierra-ile-ortusmedi-h-255900.html

I don't know how could they know it at this stage, isn't it early? And no source stated. ]
:banghead:

:thud:

Wow. This is not what I was hoping to hear. I hope LE has a few other leads to go on and was not placing all their bets on the DNA.

 

[CMac2]

:thud:

Wow. This is not what I was hoping to hear. I hope LE has a few other leads to go on and was not placing all their bets on the DNA.

Exactly.

OK, so going back to the walls. WHAT WAS SHE DOING THERE?! Even if she was randomly attacked by a pack of hooligans... WHY was she there to begin with? How did she learn of this place? If not from Taylan, who?

 

[tardislass]

:thud:

Wow. This is not what I was hoping to hear. I hope LE has a few other leads to go on and was not placing all their bets on the DNA.

My guess- killer is long gone and this will end up a cold case.

 

[bet2173]

So...

For the 850th time, we're back to square one! :banghead:

The worst part is the police may be back to square one!

 

[CMac2]

Polat refused to answer when asked directly if Taylan slept with Sierra after the mother of two arrived in Turkey for a two-week solo getaway last month. But authorities said Taylan told cops he and Sierra had been intimate.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...-sarai-sierra-article-1.1257628#ixzz2KEyShrmj

This part was missing in the Turkish news.

Maybe someone found out from TK that he'd had sex with SS and thought he'd like to get some too. Maybe he was rejected and flipped?

 

[looking4answers]

That's why I said flirted "a bit", when I wrote that. She never returns back the compliments but "kindly" accepts them but one thing I felt from those posts is she gives long replies to his male followers, explaining stuff and when she gets invitations she asks for where the place is, what kind of music he plays etc etc, she is attentive and that could send wrong vibes to some males.

Oh I definitely agree with that. Being a guy, I can even say I feel people do the same with me. A female or a gay man could misinterpret my kindness as flirtation or more. I am happy to think she was just being herself, though it would suck that her open, and kind demeanor put her in a position of vulnerability. As they say..don't mistake my kindness for weakness..well it looks like this may be what ultimately brought her down, and for that I am sad.

Are people allowed to carry mace/pepper spray outside of the US? I wish all travellers could do so nowadays..especially after hearing of the 6 Spanish girls raped in Mexico, crazy.

 

[belimom]

Exactly.

OK, so going back to the walls. WHAT WAS SHE DOING THERE?! Even if she was randomly attacked by a pack of hooligans... WHY was she there to begin with? How did she learn of this place? If not from Taylan, who?

I think it actually is something that some tourists may want to see - but I believe someone lured her there on that premise - I don't believe it was random:

http://english.istanbul.gov.tr/Default.aspx?pid=317

http://www.virtualtourist.com/trave..._Path-Istanbul-theodosian_city_wall-BR-1.html

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Sights/WesternDistricts/CityWalls.html

 

[CMac2]

Oh I definitely agree with that. Being a guy, I can even say I feel people do the same with me. A female or a gay man could misinterpret my kindness as flirtation or more. I am happy to think she was just being herself, though it would suck that her open, and kind demeanor put her in a position of vulnerability. As they say..don't mistake my kindness for weakness..well it looks like this may be what ultimately brought her down, and for that I am sad.

Are people allowed to carry mace/pepper spray outside of the US? I wish all travellers could do so nowadays..especially after hearing of the 6 Spanish girls raped in Mexico, crazy.

You can't bring mace or pepper spray onto a plane, but it might be wise to buy it once you reach your destination or make your own.

 

[bet2173]

You can't bring mace or pepper spray onto a plane, but it might be wise to buy it once you reach your destination or make your own.

I really have no idea where you can buy those here in Istanbul.

 

[Kluver13]

It's on ntvmsnbc portal too.(that the DNA samples did not match) I think it must be official, they do confirm before they post the news there.

http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25420336/

This is really unfortunate if true.
In my mind there are 3 lines of evidence, (the crime scene, the emails/phone and skype messages, and DNA evidence) that should be sufficient to triangulate and determine the murderer. I wish they would release the contents of the deleted emails. I believe this would exonerate Taylan and the other Turkish IGers. The negative DNA and contradictory statements by LE lead me to believe that they have long known who the identity of the killer(s) but for some reason will not or cannot pursue his/her conviction. Taylan's identity and strange protection make me even more skeptical.
Its also curious that the FBI has been remarkably silent.

 

[belimom]

I'm holding out hope. The last guy they questioned - the one with the business card that he handed to her that this 'witness' spoke about, the one with a group of men - I don't think his DNA was collected as early as this first set. Maybe it was, but the news didn't hit the press until days later. So I'm hoping they don't have that DNA back yet... Hoping.

 

[CMac2]

Even though it doesn't mention the fact that the DNA doesn't match, I believe this is the first article I've seen that makes NO MENTION of TK:

In an interview with The Daily Beast on Thursday, Ertan Ercikti, the police official who oversees Istanbul’s homicide division, said his detectives are facing added pressure due to the high-profile nature of the case. “We can’t work as freely as we’d like to,” he said. “The people we need to speak with are getting scared away.”

and...

Sitting in his Istanbul office, Ercikti turned up the volume on a TV newscast featuring the latest round—a New York Post article stating that a source familiar with the Sierra case told the paper that FBI agents believe she spent time with a “criminal element” in Istanbul. “I can’t do my job when I have to respond to all these rumors,” Ercikti said, dismissing the claim and adding that police had seen no evidence to support it.

Ercikti then outlined the facts of the case. Sierra was struck in the head with a blunt object, almost certainly the cause of death. She tried to defend herself, and parts of her clothing were torn from the struggle. Her body was covered with a blanket when it was found inside a cavern of the ancient walls, obscuring it from view. Ercikti said Sierra may have been killed nearby, her body then dragged to the spot where it was found, with the intention of hiding it there. It was far less likely, he said, that she had died elsewhere in the city and then been transported there. “Anything other than this is speculation,” he said.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/07/istanbul-hunts-for-sarai-sierra-s-killer.html

 

[ToutCa]

Puerto Rico is part of the US, and you have to go out of the US to go to Puerto Rico?

What Turkish press means by traveling abroad is "going to places where you need a passport". It is not like a Londoner going to Belfast"

Puerto Rico is a part of the USA (it is a U.S. territory). There are many flights direct Puerto Rico from American cities. It is not considered leaving the country and you do not need to show or own a passport.

Anyway, SS was a Puerto Rican American who grew up in NYC. We don't know if she ever set foot in Puerto Rico, but she may have.

 

[Kluver13]

I'm holding out hope. The last guy they questioned - the one with the business card that he handed to her that this 'witness' spoke about, the one with a group of men - I don't think his DNA was collected as early as this first set. Maybe it was, but the news didn't hit the press until days later. So I'm hoping they don't have that DNA back yet... Hoping.

I'm with you, however, I think we are looking at cold case status indefinitely

 

[lavy]

I think it actually is something that some tourists may want to see - but I believe someone lured her there on that premise - I don't believe it was random:

I don't think it is. And I think when you look at it its not that obvious that you can go up. Am I wrong? Bet2173, Yashim?

Even if she was curious and went in: at the ground level when she saw the beds, bottles other items wouldn't she go back?

I would but I am such a chicken.

I really have no idea where you can buy those here in Istanbul.

Eminonu, sirkeci there are some places you can buy (bazi hanlarda)

Is it legal in US? Its not in turkey (except for the police of course...)

It might not always help though. The girls in mexico, they were sleeping in their accommodation.

 

[cluciano63]

Wasn't she living apart from her husband in NY? Or was that an error? If so, why couldn't she decide to have a "fling"?

 

[KuriousKev]

I really have no idea where you can buy those here in Istanbul.

There's brown bear in Turkey so I assume somewhere you can purchase bear spray which is stronger than over the counter pepper spray and has a spray range of 20-30 feet! good stuff!

 

[ToutCa]

It's really too bad but it looks like Taylan/Tarkan is just some unlucky jerk who had sex with SS in a nightclub bathroom and then panicked.

As for what happened, mannnn, we're back to the mystery again.

If it was a random attack, how the heck do we sleuth that?

What I would like to know that we don't:

-- what kind of DNA was found at the scene (sperm/saliva/trace DNA on stuff?)

-- did the DNA reveal one male perp? multiple male perp?

 

[CMac2]

Wasn't she living apart from her husband in NY? Or was that an error? If so, why couldn't she decide to have a "fling"?

I don't think we know for sure (outside of a few not-so-credible media sources) that she and her husband were separated. I tend to believe they were, but hubby hasn't confirmed it, so who knows.

If they were separated, it is possible that the separation was intended to be temporary. Maybe one or the other of them felt the need for some space from each other, with the ultimate intent being that they would eventually get back together again. I've heard of couples taking some time away from each other to work through various issues, with the understanding being that neither would see other people.

 

[tresptip]

Exactly.

OK, so going back to the walls. WHAT WAS SHE DOING THERE?! Even if she was randomly attacked by a pack of hooligans... WHY was she there to begin with? How did she learn of this place? If not from Taylan, who?

I wonder if they have questioned anyone to see if she was told about the place.If someone told her about the place that would explain why she was there.
I'm just going to assume Ammer told her about it since he has pictures of the place.