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

[ami]

I'm thinking maybe "someone else" abroad paid for her entire trip in advance, all the travel included, lodging etc then upon her arrival they didn't get along and she was cutoff financially by this person causing her to phone her husband requesting additional funds ($150+$400) while also cutting her trip short. Maybe this pissed off whoever funded her from the beginning.

I once paid for a friend to travel from Italy to visit me here in the states, after a few days I was done and wanted her to go home early

She paid for her lodging in advance, her landlord said. And I'm assuming her husband and/or sister and/or best friend would know (but especially husband) if she acquired plane tickets without spending any money. And her A'dam lodgings were free (couch). There's not that much left to pay for except meals.

 

[CMac2]

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?

I'd add to that list the question of what/who informed her of those walls to begin with. Not one person familiar with that area has said they believe she could have happened on them on her own. Someone told her to go there. Why? Who?

 

[KuriousKev]

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?

Same here.

It seems we just took two steps back. Maybe tomorrow will bring better sleuthing leads. Hopefully

 

[CMac2]

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.

It is legal in the US, though municipalities have varying laws on the sale/size of it.

 

[Yashim]

So what's your theory? I've love to hear it, as if my head isn't spinning from all the different ones I already have floating around...

Promise you won't laugh! This is what I think.

There is no connection with Sarai's murder and her reason for being in Istanbul (whether for photos of Suleymaniye Mosque from 3 different angles, drugs or shish kebab).

Even if she were to involve in something illegal, she didn't. If she had, Taylan or another innocent, well-educated, good-looking guy with a family would be used to cover up her real reason to be in Istanbul. He would be used to accompany her to places that narcs looking for a solo traveler would be fooled.

It was a random act of violence.

She was attacked by only one person. And the body was only hidden by one person - not necessarily the same. If you are 20 meters away from the lake-like Bosporus, you don't hide a dead body in a cave, which will soon decompose and smell. So, whoever hid it had to do it solo. And buying a week would be enough for him to lose his tracks for good.

Will they ever get the killer? No, not likely. If they were to, they would have by now. Then there wouldn't be any DNA testing necessary. Yet they tested DNA samples from 22 detainees for a match. That means they have no better suspects.

However, if Sarai really had some bad contacts, they will be surfaced by deleted gmail messages. That's where FBI will jump in to shout "this one's mine", I believe that's why they are riding shotgun.

 

[looking4answers]

As found and quoted by CMac2 above:

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

Exactly! See why I have such issue with the NY post and other smear mags posting whatever they wish? It is affecting the ability of the detectives to do their jobs. So yeah it is a big deal, and I am tired of their bs and $ driven shenanigans. Wish they could legally be put out of business for their sensational bs stories.

 

[ami]

I'm starting to think that maybe she just wandered there. Started walking, kept walking, looking at and maybe taking pictures of the water and boats, saw some interesting feature of the wall, like the arches, and thought it would make a good shot. Maybe she didn't know that there wasn't much attractive to see up ahead, and kept walking past the point where most people do. Maybe she was looking at boats and the waterfront and didn't notice how far she'd gone. After all she was just walking along a single unbroken walkway, from the pictures, not navigating through twists and turns of streets.

I'd also thought it was more likely that she would have had to meet someone there, or be directed there by someone, but that person must have been really clever not to be caught by the cameras that seemed to have recorded so much of SS's movements that morning.

So was it someone who approached from a different side than the waterfront walkway (which was apparently covered by cameras)?

Was is someone the cameras did capture, but at the time the person wasn't doing anything noteworthy?

Or was it someone who was hanging out at the wall already?

 

[Yellow]

Wouldn't the cameras have seen her walking with this person though

But the cameras did not see her walking with Taylan either. Maybe the cameras did not capture her w the killer.

If there was another suitor, perhaps she went to that area to phot graffiti and this other person followed her and killed her there.

If not Taylan, there are only 3 choices: another person from Internet OR someone she met organically in istanbul like someone at hostel OR a completely random person who decided to kill her for perhaps her ipad but not her jewelry which would be weird. If a random person, and assuming she was not raped, robbery would have to be the motive. Do we know whether she had any cash on her when they found the body?

Actually, there is a fourth scenario, highly unlikely I think:she was a drug mule or involved in some criminals element and someone killed her fearing that she was going to report them

Given that she was engaging in risky behavior meeting up w strange men, I still think the most likely scenario is someone she met online...

I was just thinking too..how many of you know a married women (or man for that matter) with small children who packs up and goes overseas for 3 weeks leaving family behind to photograph pictures and to meet up w random people on the Internet? And add to that, the person is not an experienced traveler and this is first time overseas?

Maybe one does that at age 22 after college but it is extremely rare someone w a family would do that. The whole thing is just strange, that is what makes this case so fascinating. She might have been just a naive woman on an adventure (i think she had home problems and she just wanted time alone) but still, the whole scenario is just odd...most people w families go w their families, they take their kids to Disney world, they do not go off on trips to foreign countries alone, especially when they do not have money to throw around, when they are married w small children and when they are inexperienced travelers. Maybe you might go off for a few days to an island or las vegas for a girls weekend but not 3 weeks....and not to turkey..

The oddness of the trip may or may not have anything to do w her death...in any event, there had to have been a reason she wanted to go on the trip, spending so much of her hard earned money and leaving her kids for 3 weeks. Why so long? It was not just for photos...

By saying the whole thing is odd/strange I don't mean to pass judgement on anything. I think most people would agree w me though that the fact situation here is just really odd...which is why I think everyone wants to know who did it!!

 

[Rolandred]

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"

Oh - I see. But going to Puerto Rico is like going to another country - I don't think it is very typically American (culture) - it's Caribbean.

 

[Yashim]

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!

Or, you can indulge yourself in central and southeastern Turkish cuisine. The garlic and onions will certainly deter many.

 

[tresptip]

Its so sad.I think this will be one of those cases that will remain unsolved due to the fact that they have noone that matches the DNA samples taken.

 

[Yellow]

Its so sad.I think this will be one of those cases that will remain unsolved due to the fact that they have noone that matches the DNA samples taken.

If it was a random it might remain unsolved, I wonder if turkey has a DNA database like we have here... If not, they will never catch him if he is a random...especially a random who now split town!

Other countries may have an even better database than ours, bc ours is limited bc of constitutional protections, I imagine theoretically other countries may have ones where they collect DNA upon arrest or they keep DNA in the database of everyone they collect

In the US DNA I think could not be put in the database except if it satisfies certain conditions. Like if they do a sweep on DNA in the neighborhood, that dNA can be examined for the case but it is not in database.

 

[ami]

I was just thinking too..how many of you know a married women (or man for that matter) with small children who packs up and goes overseas for 3 weeks leaving family behind to photograph pictures and to meet up w random people on the Internet? And add to that, the person is not an experienced traveler and this is first time overseas?

(respectfully snipped)
!

Me - I know women who do this regularly. I am a woman who has done this myself, minus photography (I have a different hobby) and I have met many, many women, mothers, wives who do this as well. There are thousands of us. We have forums for this. Look up "solo female travel" and read the hundreds of blogs with thousands of followers specifically geared toward just this exact thing. Mothers, wives, single women in their 20's - 60's all doing this, all the time.

It is NOT rare. I don't know how many other ways to say this. I do it and I belong to facebook groups and blogs of other women who do as well.

I have never been to Disney with my children in my life. It costs more than an overseas trip.

I know that this case might be the first time some people have looked into the world of solo female travel, but that does not mean it's weird, or rare, or dangerous, or sketchy, or that it defies belief.

It is very normal and very, very common.

 

[ThinkHard]

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.

Ammer has pictures of the walls? @taylloo does. But Ammer is from Amsterdam, I don't remember him having pictures of the walls.

 

[Yashim]

Maybe you might go off for a few days to an island or las vegas for a girls weekend but not 3 weeks....and not to turkey..

Not to Turkey? I disagree. The destination itself doesn't make the story atypical. But the combination of all. (Perhaps that's what you're saying too.)

You could come to Turkey, but why post 3 pictures. Why eat western fast food at a mall and not grab a fried mussels sandwich along with a can of beer on your way to the mall.

Why wait until your very last day to see the historic peninsula (Old Istanbul). That means she hasn't been to Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, The Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia and the Istanbul Museum of Archeology.

It's everything combined. That's unseen in the entire history of world tourism. (Ok, I may be exaggerating...)

 

[tresptip]

Ammer has pictures of the walls? @taylloo does. But Ammer is from Amsterdam, I don't remember him having pictures of the walls.

Oops, sorry thats who I meant to say.

 

[ami]

Not to Turkey? I disagree. The destination itself doesn't make the story atypical. But the combination of all. (Perhaps that's what you're saying too.)

You could come to Turkey, but why post 3 pictures. Why eat western fast food at a mall and not grab a fried mussels sandwich along with a can of beer on your way to the mall.

Why wait until your very last day to see the historic peninsula (Old Istanbul). That means she hasn't been to Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, The Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia and the Istanbul Museum of Archeology.

It's everything combined. That's unseen in the entire history of world tourism. (Ok, I may be exaggerating...)

Do we know she had not been to the peninsula before her last day?

(about the food, one can eat the native food for so long and then you can start to crave some 'home cooking' which in our case would be some nice fast food! lol)

 

[lavy]

Not to Turkey? I disagree. The destination itself doesn't make the story atypical. But the combination of all. (Perhaps that's what you're saying too.)

You could come to Turkey, but why post 3 pictures. Why eat western fast food at a mall and not grab a fried mussels sandwich along with a can of beer on your way to the mall.

Why wait until your very last day to see the historic peninsula (Old Istanbul). That means she hasn't been to Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, The Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia and the Istanbul Museum of Archeology.

It's everything combined. That's unseen in the entire history of world tourism. (Ok, I may be exaggerating...)

BBM

Agreed. That's not possible at all. I can't believe she didn't go to that part. If not where has she been? Doesn't make sense. Maybe she took the tram directly to sultanahmet but she haven't walked in eminonu and sirkeci? Thats the only explanation I can come up with.

 

[Yellow]

Not to Turkey? I disagree. The destination itself doesn't make the story atypical. But the combination of all. (Perhaps that's what you're saying too.)

You could come to Turkey, but why post 3 pictures. Why eat western fast food at a mall and not grab a fried mussels sandwich along with a can of beer on your way to the mall.

Why wait until your very last day to see the historic peninsula (Old Istanbul). That means she hasn't been to Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, The Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia and the Istanbul Museum of Archeology.

It's everything combined. That's unseen in the entire history of world tourism. (Ok, I may be exaggerating...)

Oh, I didn't mean to say Turkey is a bad place to go (i have been there myself) but it is an odd place to go for your first trip overseas, especially for an American. Maybe odd is not the right word, but it is definitely different. Like I bet if you surveyed all Americans on their first trip overseas, 99.9% would say somewhere other than Turkey, w majority saying Canada, Mexico, islands, and the rest saying France, England, etc.

And that is mostly due to proximity. turkey is pretty far away and it is definitely a "different" place to go for a first trip overseas. As a factual matter, unless you have family in Turkey, most Americans do not go to Turkey as their first trip overseas. I could say the same thing about South Africa, Greece, Japan, etc:most Americans go to places that are closer for their first overseas trip.

Add to that the media portrayals of Turkey (many false) & the fact that we often hear of bombings, etc. results in many Americans having an inaccurate image of Turkey as being in the Middle East, resulting in lowered tourism for Turkey as opposed to France or Italy.

Her going to Turkey as her trip trip overseas is definitely....different than the norm..Maybe more exciting than the norm, but definitely different than the norm

 

[zarra30]

Thank you for welcoming me. I see no reputable evidence that Sarai was harboring any dark secrets. I find it believable that she did go there to take pictures, not to smuggle or even initiate a romance. I also understand her initially wanting to meet IG males to take her around the city. Maybe she figured she’d be safer with a male escort and they’d be more willing than females to go to the places she wanted to shoot. The majority of her photos are of images with no people in them, places and buildings, some in remote areas. From his conversations and photos, her Amsterdam IG contact seems like a cool guy and she had planned the trip to meet him at least a week in advance, if not longer: Ammer: “I hope the weather won't be like this when i pick u up next week.” Sarai: Ugh I hope not either...I'm hoping for blue skies and abnormally warm weather lol. Then after she gets there A says to another poster (regarding his photos): Thx babe, i'm takin a nyc girl on an amsterdam area trip gotta show her the hood”. Their IG conversation/banter has a genuine and friendly ring to it. A: “too bad we had such short time, i'm sure you would have loved other foods too” and later : “it was a pleasure to have you around, that was #instapositive fo real! Have a safe flight!” Sarai: “I had an awesome time. You were an amazing tour guide!! will talk soon...thank you soooo much”.,,,and “I really enjoyed showing you around! Talk soon!” The guy has lots of facebook friends and seems pretty open. So I understand her choosing him. Nothing nefarious there. I think she just wanted to meet people who shared her taste in photography, music and ideas. And out of all the fabulous and cool and really nice people in Istanbul, she unluckily met up with a bad person.