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

[ThinkHard]

Keeping with the idea of having an open mind, IF there was an affair (and I am not saying I'm convinced there was), that COULD explain what a lot of us felt was a rather abrupt/not-so-friendly email exchange between SS' husband and Taylan when she first went missing.

That said, regardless of their relationship, she did not deserve to be murdered. So whether they had a thing or not is of no consequence to me, and Taylan is still my own #1 suspect.

Do you think it's possible the Steven Sierra saw other emails btw Taylan and SS and that is why he was so accusatory to Taylan?
Do you hunk it's possible he erased them before turning of her gmail account to FBI either because he was in denial or to protect his own or Sarai's dignity?

Whether or not they had an affair or not, taylans story went from non-romantic to affair as the investigation heated up. There was a reason he didn't want to admit that at first. Perhaps because he felt bad for mr sierra and it had nothing to do with her death so he figured why make the wounds deeper OR because his relationship with her was connected to the crime and he was trying to distance himself....hmmm?

Didn't Taylan send her a ill meet you there message at 1245pm?.....and she was spotted by surveillance in serkeci walking to Sarayburnu at 1:15?..... Hmmmm seems plausible that she received the message....and Taylan just lied about where "there" was.

Also I know sarai friend says she doesn't believe a word of this because sarai wouldn't do this....but people we know very well often surprise us.

 

[lavy]

I was going to ask this earlier. Better late than never.
How much do you think US press is relying on Turkish press in this case?
Most news are translated from Turkish. Some news channels sent their reporters to Turkey but that's all. Turkish LE is reporting (if any) in Turkish so thats not too necessary. They obviously have some US sources, Staten Island connection & Michael Grimm, FBI, family etc. but still most of the info is directly translated from Turkish.

You probably seen my attitude towards Turkish media/press (I absolutely hate them) and don't think most are credible. Sorry guys, but for this case I don't see American press is credible either. Maybe I am wrong and I am hoping you won't get me wrong but I feel like there is a tendency in here towards believing most of the things written in US press. Its not their fault they are mostly dependent on Turkish media in this case. Also I feel like translation makes it little more like a fact. Example:

Turkish Press: It is been alleged that purple elephants are crossing the river.

American Press: According to X newspaper from Turkey; purple elephants crossed the river.


I hope I managed to explain my point.

 

[ToutCa]

Also found this photo on Ammer's FB page

Creepy. I kept my feelings to myself, but unlike some I always found this Ammer guy in fact a little creepy overall. He sounds like an online pick-up-artist to me. A friendly, "cool" online pick-up artist, but one nonetheless. MOO

 

[ThinkHard]

My only reservation in the whole 'Taylan did it' scenario is that I see strangulation as more of a possibility than hitting her in the head - and hitting her repeatedly. Of course, he could have tried that but she fought back too hard. Even in cases of rape by a stranger where the victim is killed, strangulation is usually what happens (I have nothing to back this up but it seems this way - I'm sure somewhere there is a statistic that would answer this question).

Which leads me back to other possibilities to consider in addition to Taylan. I don't believe LE would just round up 21 people (or whatever the latest number is) and take DNA samples. I believe they have a reason to think that more than one person may be responsible.

The thing is I don't think if it was Taylan rape was a motive. I don't think it was about power, I think it was about abandonment. I think the rock was just a handy weapon.

 

[ThinkHard]

ThinkHard, you write very vividly and your theory is very plausible.

The one element that puzzles me is WHERE did SS meet up with her assailant if it was a pal/romance of hers?

It defies belief that she would meet him only way up within the walls (unless she had been there before). If Taylan or another fellow IM'ed her or skyped her in some way we don't yet know about, how did she know where to rendezvous with him? Walking all the way almost there alone...just seems somewhat odd.

Your writing is so convincing that you ought to think about writing a novel, maybe Fifty Shades of Grey pt. iv...the lost Istanbul chapters...

Haha thanks ill get to work on that!

I agree with your point. Which is why I actually do think she had been there before. That's why when Taylan said, ill meet you there. She knew where "there" was.

 

[ToutCa]

I was going to ask this earlier. Better late than never.
How much do you think US press is relying on Turkish press in this case?.

Of course they rely on the Turkish press too much. They have all cut their budgets to the bone and among the first things to go is foreign correspondents.

Why do we trust the US media more?

The mainstream ones verify their sources before they go to print. That's really the only reason we have any trust in any of them. Their reporting usually stinks, but the top mainstream chains make an effort to verify their sources.

In order of trustworthiness:

NY Post - not trustworthy (tabloid)
Fox News - not very trustworthy (tabloid-y)
CNN/CBS/ABC/NBC - fairly trustworthy (make attempts to verify sources)

 

[NewYork625]

Of course they rely on the Turkish press too much. They have all cut their budgets to the bone and among the first things to go is foreign correspondents.

Why do we trust the US media more?

The mainstream ones verify their sources before they go to print. That's really the only reason we have any trust in any of them. Their reporting usually stinks, but the top mainstream chains make an effort to verify their sources.

In order of trustworthiness:

NY Post - not trustworthy (tabloid)
Fox News - not very trustworthy (tabloid-y)
CNN/CBS/ABC/NBC - fairly trustworthy (make attempts to verify sources)

I agree but would say Fox News is trustworthy except for their political bias/slant.

 

[lavy]

I'm curious to know why all reports up until today says SS's friend, who canceled her trip, bailed out at the last minute, when today's NYP report says her friend alerted SS early on that she couldn't go.

"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. "

Please correct me if I am wrong but I remember SS decided to go on with the trip as it was already planned and paid? Am I wrong?

If the trip is paid = tickets and accommodation it doesn't make sense at all. The other cost would be trivial considering Turkey is kind of cheaper.

I'm not sure if you are referring to me, but my point was that if there was an issue with school (at this point, likely with her bill) than she would be de-registered if not taken care of in person by a certain date. I know it sounds silly or trivial but it is not like you can waltz over there and say I want to register for such and such class at this time and call it a day. There are only so many slots in a class. Being de-registered is awful. It is almost impossible to get those classes back and usually all of your classes are strategically picked due to schedule. It could delay graduation by a semester or full year if it is a class since the classes you take are normally prerequisites to the next ones.

I thought you can register online but you seem like you know what you are talking about.

Just a question; can somebody do this for you? Your sister/friend to go and do your enrollment?

The one element that puzzles me is WHERE did SS meet up with her assailant if it was a pal/romance of hers?

It defies belief that she would meet him only way up within the walls (unless she had been there before). If Taylan or another fellow IM'ed her or skyped her in some way we don't yet know about, how did she know where to rendezvous with him? Walking all the way almost there alone...just seems somewhat odd.

My theory is Taylan (if he is the one) showed the walls to her the previous day. He says they went to Sirkeci and its less than 10 mins walk there. Maybe he texted and said "I came to the bridge I couldn't find you I am near the walls that I showed you."

 

[delal]

I really don't think SS and Taylan were having some sort of romance. Why not? Well how come she's always on camera alone, and the apartment owner never mentioned anything about a guy coming over? Why would she meet Taylan at the Galata tower rather than picking her up from her place?

That's not to say that he may not have had feelings for her or made a move. I just can't see a big romance being played out in these circumstances.

Someone earlier made a point about the low number of photos Sarai had posted of her trip. I don't know, maybe she was a person who liked to edit her photos and check through them to find the best ones and upload them after her trips. It just seems a bit odd to me when you're using sites like instagram, isn't one of the points of instagram that the photos are, well, an instant image of where you are at that point in time? If her phone and ipad are ever discovered, it would be really interesting to see all of her photos. I wonder what she did during her time in Istanbul - we don't seem to have a lot of knowledge about that other than going to the mall and her last day.

 

[lavy]

Of course they rely on the Turkish press too much. They have all cut their budgets to the bone and among the first things to go is foreign correspondents.

Why do we trust the US media more?

The mainstream ones verify their sources before they go to print. That's really the only reason we have any trust in any of them. Their reporting usually stinks, but the top mainstream chains make an effort to verify their sources.

Yes of course. But in this case their source is the turkish newspapers. There is no further source stated or required. So what I've seen is a tabloid Turkish paper writes something without giving a source and it ends up in a trustworthy US paper.

I am not blaming the US press of course they only take information from a foreign paper Nothing wrong about that. I am just trying to warn people.

 

[shimz]

Lavy, you can register online but you already have to be a student (don't know if she was or not) - then you are given a date and time and the website you log into (esims) will essentially unlock the registration at that time and you can register. This was probably weeks ago. I think the snafu she would run into would be with her bill. It must be paid by a certain date or you are de-registered. This you would need to handle in person (they don't make these things easy - lots of crowds, taking numbers/waiting in lines) and you would have to do this yourself. They will ask you to supply ID and SSN when dealing with anyone there.

 

[ami]

I was going to ask this earlier. Better late than never.
How much do you think US press is relying on Turkish press in this case?
Most news are translated from Turkish. Some news channels sent their reporters to Turkey but that's all. Turkish LE is reporting (if any) in Turkish so thats not too necessary. They obviously have some US sources, Staten Island connection & Michael Grimm, FBI, family etc. but still most of the info is directly translated from Turkish.

You probably seen my attitude towards Turkish media/press (I absolutely hate them) and don't think most are credible. Sorry guys, but for this case I don't see American press is credible either. Maybe I am wrong and I am hoping you won't get me wrong but I feel like there is a tendency in here towards believing most of the things written in US press. Its not their fault they are mostly dependent on Turkish media in this case. Also I feel like translation makes it little more like a fact. Example:

Turkish Press: It is been alleged that purple elephants are crossing the river.

American Press: According to X newspaper from Turkey; purple elephants crossed the river.


I hope I managed to explain my point.

Oh yeah, a lot of the US media are relying on the Turkish press - the US has a few correspondents "on the scene" reporting live from there, but most of the journals I see online copy almost word for word from each other. And the stories break out soon after Turkish press breaks them. So I think it's reporters reporting the reports of other reporters right now, for the most part.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I remember SS decided to go on with the trip as it was already planned and paid? Am I wrong?

(respectfully snipped)

All I've read from her family is that she really wanted to go, decided that she would still go even after friend bailed on her, and that her personality type is such that this was fairly normal for her - pushing on with the trip because she'd set her mind to it.

 

[ThinkHard]

I just thought of something. From her IG post I mentioned earlier.

She talked about how she hated not having plans concrete and she was kind of neurotic that way. However when she talked to her family she gave them vague plans about going to the Galata bridge and the Asian side.

Im thinking she did know what her plans were, to go to the walls with Taylan. I think she didn't tell her family this because they might not like her going to a place with graffiti etc alone. But she wasnt going alone, she was going with Taylan. I bet her husband wouldn't have been a fan of just how much time she was spending with this guy, even if he knew about him, and perhaps she even felt a little guilty because at the very least maybe she did have a little crush on him. So she says a vague plan to her family.

So she has these plans to meet at the walls in the afternoon. Taylan asks her what she s going to try to do before that. She says maybe the tower and the bridge. He tells her he will try to meet up with her at those places if he can get there. She's at the tower, asks him if he's coming. He's busy or sleeping or at work, he doesn't respond, she takes him later that she's leaving the tower. He gets back to her at 1245 sees he missed her tower trip and says ill meet you "there" as in there planned time at the walls.

 

[necco]

The main reason that I don't believe she had romance or sex on her mind for this trip is simple. Her husband had access to her email and other social networking accounts. He knew her passwords.

This doesn't mean that someone in Turkey didn't have romance or sex on their mind. It also doesn't mean that she didn't get swept up in the adventure and hook up with someone. I just don't think anything torrid or passionate initiated the trip.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Lavy, you can register online but you already have to be a student (don't know if she was or not) - then you are given a date and time and the website you log into (esims) will essentially unlock the registration at that time and you can register. This was probably weeks ago. I think the snafu she would run into would be with her bill. It must be paid by a certain date or you are de-registered. This you would need to handle in person (they don't make these things easy - lots of crowds, taking numbers/waiting in lines) and you would have to do this yourself. They will ask you to supply ID and SSN when dealing with anyone there.

You may be privy to info from her particular college, but in Cali both of my children were able to pay their tuition online both at the Jr. college and university level.

 

[KuriousKev]

I'm curious to know why all reports up until today says SS's friend, who canceled her trip, bailed out at the last minute, when today's NYP report says her friend alerted SS early on that she couldn't go.

"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. "

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

The early MSM got tons of things wrong. I think it was more exciting to them to suggest that her friend almost, but not quite, saved her life by being there.

The friend has been quite open about it.

There were TV interviews early on where her friend actually said she cancelled at the last minute. She never said she told SS she wasn't able to go early on in planning as stated by her interview with New York Post today. Could it be that she felt NYP's questions regarding drugs made her realize they're "closing in" and she's trying to NOW make it appear as though she was against it from the beginning. IDK, Just some theories.

 

[ThinkHard]

I really don't think SS and Taylan were having some sort of romance. Why not? Well how come she's always on camera alone, and the apartment owner never mentioned anything about a guy coming over? Why would she meet Taylan at the Galata tower rather than picking her up from her place?

That's not to say that he may not have had feelings for her or made a move. I just can't see a big romance being played out in these circumstances.

Someone earlier made a point about the low number of photos Sarai had posted of her trip. I don't know, maybe she was a person who liked to edit her photos and check through them to find the best ones and upload them after her trips. It just seems a bit odd to me when you're using sites like instagram, isn't one of the points of instagram that the photos are, well, an instant image of where you are at that point in time? If her phone and ipad are ever discovered, it would be really interesting to see all of her photos. I wonder what she did during her time in Istanbul - we don't seem to have a lot of knowledge about that other than going to the mall and her last day.

Apparently this guy Taylan is from serkeci. So it wouldn't make sense for him to go all the way to her hostel to meet at the tower for one. Also we do not know if he has a car. So that part doesn't seem weird to me. Additionally about the videos I assume there is a lot of stuff she did in Istanbul that wasnt captured by surveillance. Also I believe there was mention of at least one surveillance spotting of Taylan with her, just not from that day.

The only reason I noted the number of photos was because she had also mentioned she didn't know much about the history of the city. So if she wasnt busy taking and editing photos to upload, like she did almost daily back in ny. And she wasnt sightseeing. It seems her time was spent more hanging out with other people. Perhaps Taylan perhaps others. It just doesn't seem that, if her whole focus of her trip was photography, that she spent the majority of the time on it. She was there two weeks and posted 6 photos! She was in Amsterdam fr 3 days and posted 5! That's doesn't seem a little odd to you?

Im not saying she was a drug mule or up to no good, i just think she spent more of her time there hanging out with people then she did on photography. And though that might not have been her original purpose in going there. It leads me to think that she enjoyed the company of the people she was with enough to be happy spending it with them.

 

[Yashim]

I just thought of something. From her IG post I mentioned earlier.

She talked about how she hated not having plans concrete and she was kind of neurotic that way. However when she talked to her family she gave them vague plans about going to the Galata bridge and the Asian side.
.

I think this is weird. She always gave her family too many details about the locations she'd visit. I would call my family to say I'm OK, but why give name of destinations? Having never been to Istanbul, they can't tell Galata Tower from Salata Tower anyway.

 

[shimz]

You may be privy to info from her particular college, but in Cali both of my children were able to pay their tuition online both at the Jr. college and university level.

I believe you can pay online too, if you are paying by credit card. Maybe I should have been clearer. If she was going the financial aid route, which most do, there could be a snafu as many times there is. Maybe it didn't cover the whole bill, or something was missing, or she filed late. It could have been a number of things. Still, the issue is with the bill/payment, not the registration. I'm just speculating. I just think there would be more urgency if she had already registerd and was about to have it all come undone, than if she hasn't even done so at all yet.

 

[zarra30]

My first post here. Just want to say it’s not unheard of for sweet and nice people, even good mothers to have sex with relative strangers, yes even in a bar bathroom, and take risks when on vacation and go places and do things that they would never ever do at home. This was her first trip abroad, she was alone, maybe feeling free and independent for the first time in her life. It happens. It’s also possible some guy misread all the signals and felt betrayed by a promise never made. I think if they determine she was killed at or close to the place she was found, it indicates someone with a car, maybe offering to show her something “it’s right around here, up the hill”, or “Yes I get that it’s over, I'm fine with that, let’s just have lunch, to show there’s no hard feelings... hey let’s stop here first great view up there”. In MOO at some moment she let her guard down, or went against her instincts, perhaps to be polite, and realized too late that she made a dreadful mistake trusting someone and fought like hell. We’ve all been fooled by someone or something in our lives. Maybe Taylan did it, maybe someone totally different. The DNA under her nails should nail the perp. Then again, if Taylan did kill her, his story about the passionate meet-up in the bathroom might be a deceptive ploy to explain why his DNA is under her nails, “Oh she was clutching my back digging her nails in….”or maybe the police found scratches on him? The Turkish police seem to be acting responsibly in considering everything, staying tight lipped about what their interviews yield and waiting for the DNA, unlike the rush to judgment by police in the Amanda Knox case. Great forum by the way, some amazing insight here.