GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #4

[bet2173]

Just as a side note on the body found in the sea around Samatya: There's a serial killer who is killing Armenian women living around Samatya. It was on the papers around the same time when Sarai was missing.

 

[MURDERER_SERVANT]

If Z.is the murderer, it is probably possible that he saw the various speculations about SS being a CIA agent, a smuggler , spy whatever on the papers and on tv . He felt a bit confident not being traced..So in his sister's home when he saw the news abt her, he preferred to talk that way perhaps physocologically destressing himself... I mean , that doesn't mean that from what we know so far , we can say he was mentally ill or a schizophrene b/c that spy speculations are being made every single day.

 

[MURDERER_SERVANT]

I also remember that her driving licence was found on the scene.

People usually carry these kinds of cards in safe places, in their wallets, bags etc.not in their pockets not to lose them.
If it was not in SS's pocket, it seems hard to drop.So whoever taking the bag and the electronics, might have searched an identity card in the bag leaving his fingerprints on it and left it on purpose for her to be identified.
But someone she knows wouldn't do that at all.

This is a suggestion of course..It might have well fallen from her pocket without a suspicious fingerprint on it also.

 

[citizenofworld]

He used an alias to purchase his ticket.

Why would he need to use an alias to purchase a bus ticket with cash? This doesn't make sense, unless they take people's name and information to buy a bus ticket in Turkey?

 

[english]

Why would he need to use an alias to purchase a bus ticket with cash? This doesn't make sense, unless they take people's name and information to buy a bus ticket in Turkey?

For intercity bus travel you have to give your name to purchase a ticket and a seat is assigned for you. You don't need to show ID. It wouldn't be a hop on / hop off bus.

 

[KrysJP]

I just returned and had time to look at the video of the woman in the water with the red shirt and read up on the comments. Interesting.
Does anyone remember WHY they originally assumed she was alive on the 21st?

at that point when they found that woman's body, SS was not found yet and still considered missing

 

[KrysJP]

But Sarai seemed to be a super-polite girl. Let's assume that she was taking his picture, I'm sure she has asked his permission first. And if he was schizophrenic she must have sensed a weirdness in his actions and walked away from there.

Plus, here, people like the idea of their pictures to be taken. They do not give harsh reactions to the offer. That's why most of the renowned photographers in Turkey have street people's portraits in their portfolio. And also, Sarai was into the buildings, architecture, bridges, etc not the portraits of people.

Having so many pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge in her instagram feed, I wonder if she's been to Arnavutkoy, Bebek area to take the photos of the Bosphorous Bridge.

what I was saying was he might have ACCIDENTALLY been caught in the shot without her seeing him. She could have been taking a picture of the cave, while he was in there and she didn't notice him or think it would be a big deal.

 

[ThinkHard]

I just find that WAY too much stuff going on with a woman who was visiting the country for a short period of time. What could she possibly have done so wrong that would make someone go through so much to kill her or have her killed? She was a harmless innocent woman on vacation. Why would someone go through such an extreme and drastic measures? Thats why I really feel that this was something so quick and random. I feel like her whole trip went so smooth and normal up until that moment. And even at that moment, WHY? what could have possibly happened? Noone has these answers but everyone wants to know. we don't have enough clues to really come to a conclusion. So until LE, FBI cracks this case, we are all left out in the cold. Only thing we could do is......JUST KEEP SLEUTHING!!!!!

Agree. I don't think she did anything wrong for someone to plan to kill her. I guess I would be more willing to believe that her death was not planned at all, but that someone like Taylan perhaps lost their cool. And all the extremes were more about covering for his own families pride, not wanting to be associated with such a crime, and perhaps even having the resources to do it.

In other words all the extremes were about a cover up, not because the crime was planned ahead of time.

 

[bet2173]

what I was saying was he might have ACCIDENTALLY been caught in the shot without her seeing him. She could have been taking a picture of the cave, while he was in there and she didn't notice him or think it would be a big deal.

Oh, ok, yes could be.

Another thing came to my mind while you mentioned this. Paper/ trash collectors start working around 8 pm till after midnight. They do not work during the day. So Z was either a passerby at the time she was there or he doesn't have a home and lives around the walls.

 

[ThinkHard]

Just some thoughts...

We do know Steven talked to Taylan before Taylan was interviewed by LE.. I'm thinking Steven questioned Taylan about his wife's whereabouts and maybe Steven asked what did he do with his wife. Maybe Taylan told Steven he did not have sex with SS during their initial convo. Could be the reason Taylan did not originally mention sex to LE because he had already told Steven he and SS did not have sex. Hearing SS had DNA on her body probably forced Taylan to come clean in order to protect himself.

Right but still to my point you would be far more concerned that DNA from a sexual encounter could be found on someone's body if you knew that there was no chance she showered btw this sex act and her death.
However if the sex act happened on the 20th, and she disappeared on the 21t the likelyhood that she would have showered in btw is very high, so why would Taylan be so scared his DNA would be found on her in that case.

 

[ThinkHard]

I think Newyork625 and Yashim are on the right track. The killer is Ziya. He's likely a paranoid schizophrenic & suffers from persecutors syndrome. Sarai probably stumbled onto his home in the walls while taking pics & he thought she was spy pursuing him and out to hurt him. So he struck out at her & snatched her iPad & phone. That's likely why her jewelry was left intact.

I used to work in a combined Psychiatric & Addictive Disorders dept. and he fits the clinical description of schizophrenia.

<modsnip>.

<modsnip>.

 

[SANDOVAL]

I tried to keep up with everything regarding this case but missed this. So, whose smart phone was it? Hmmm Interesting.

Having watched this vid several times I still cannot see a guy with a smartphone, or what would be on it if I could.....is there a different video of that ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4BD_j97R5I

 

[ThinkHard]

I also remember that her driving licence was found on the scene.

People usually carry these kinds of cards in safe places, in their wallets, bags etc.not in their pockets not to lose them.
If it was not in SS's pocket, it seems hard to drop.So whoever taking the bag and the electronics, might have searched an identity card in the bag leaving his fingerprints on it and left it on purpose for her to be identified.
But someone she knows wouldn't do that at all.

This is a suggestion of course..It might have well fallen from her pocket without a suspicious fingerprint on it also.

Well someone she knows may intentionally leave her drivers license, either as a sign of remorse, or so her body can be identified, or as a combination of the two.

 

[ThinkHard]

I don't mean to be rude, but I don't understand the theory that the Jan. 21 surveillance footage is not SS.

**LE found her body by following her walk on the CCTV footage.
They located surveillance footage of SS on Jan. 21 and traced her route across town. When nothing else was working out, they sent hundreds of cops to her last known location and fanned out along her expected route. Almost immediately, they found her body.

If they were following the wrong person, the chances of that happening are zero.

**Her family must have identified her on the video.
They had it all before they located her body. So her husband and brother must have seen it while they were in town and surely identified her.

**She dressed differently from the day before and wore her hair down.
She was a woman. She was a fashionable woman. No surprise.

**The body of the drowned woman.
Police were checking every body found to see if it was SS. That's normal procedure in a high-profile, high-pressure missing persons investigation. There's no reason to assume that every crime occurring in Instanbul Jan. 20-Feb. 4 had to do with SS.

A lot of people don't feel like the woman on the footage from the 21 st is sarai. Which prompted other theories and speculations.

I also wouldn't be too confident that SS 's family was privy to anything going on in the investigation, including any video footage of SS that wasnt released to the public. So I'm not sure we can say for sure that anyone in her family would have verified that was her on the video. Even after she was found it was reported there was still hours of video to search.

 

[wpoe]

Having watched this vid several times I still cannot see a guy with a smartphone, or what would be on it if I could.....is there a different video of that ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4BD_j97R5I

1:30 into the video is the scene with the smartphone image of SS

 

[CMac2]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the contact between Steven and Taylan by email? Not a lot of room for conversation if just a series of emails that start with "Where is my wife?" A mad husband coming into town could also be a reason why Taylan began "covering his tracks".

I would think- or hope, rather- that a missing woman that I knew and cared about (even if not in a romantic sense) had gone missing in my country a couple of hours after having made plans to meet up with me. From my impression of Steven, he'd have been more than happy to set aside any differences with Taylan long enough to join forces in an effort to locate his missing wife. I do not excuse Taylan's behavior. He should not have disappeared, IMO (I'm not saying you are excusing his behavior, so hopefully I was clear on that )

 

[ThinkHard]

what I was saying was he might have ACCIDENTALLY been caught in the shot without her seeing him. She could have been taking a picture of the cave, while he was in there and she didn't notice him or think it would be a big deal.

The thing is that area is really really creepy. I guess I just give SS more credit then wondering into that area alone. I feel like her common sense would kick in and she would just know better. That's the biggest peice of the random attack scenario that doesn't fit a for me. Anyone who has ever been to that spot can tell you, it's not a place anyone with common sense would wonder to alone, no matter how gutsy they are. And I think SS though gutsy, also was savvy and smart, and I just can't see her making herself that vulnerable.

 

[SANDOVAL]

I studied the picture some more. It just can't be her.
- the hair in the picture is thicker/different texture than Sarai's, a little more wavy
- the hair is parted on the wrong side
- the hair is actually pulled back just a little on one side with maybe a hair clip or something (can't see that in pic) but that's not Sarai's style
- the face shape is all wrong

You could very well be 100% correct, but WHY are LE claiming this is SS ? What if ALL their footage after the food court day (20th) is not SS at all?(which I believe has already been questioned on here)

 

[wpoe]

I would think- or hope, rather- that a missing woman that I knew and cared about (even if not in a romantic sense) had gone missing in my country a couple of hours after having made plans to meet up with me. From my impression of Steven, he'd have been more than happy to set aside any differences with Taylan long enough to join forces in an effort to locate his missing wife. I do not excuse Taylan's behavior. He should not have disappeared, IMO (I'm not saying you are excusing his behavior, so hopefully I was clear on that )

I agree with you except...I see Taylan as a user, lurking to score with tourists. Photography is just the tool of the game he is playing. It is almost like keeping score...get this one and move on to the next. It could even have been like a frat house gig where he tried to include some buddies in the game, causing her demise when she refused. Sorry, but by his own actions after the contact with Steven he identified himself as not within the character to care much other than the impact on himself.

By the way, I am new here. Any advise would be appreciated. And I do enjoy your posts.

 

[CMac2]

You could very well be 100% correct, but WHY are LE claiming this is SS ? What if ALL their footage after the food court day (20th) is not SS at all?(which I believe has already been questioned on here)

I just can't imagine why LE would continue to say this is her if it isn't- not after all this time. It doesn't make sense. By now they would know for sure one way or the other- it's her or it isn't. If it is not her, but they're releasing footage of another woman and saying it's SS, what purpose does that serve?