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

[lavy]

This article states:
"Her belongings, including her passport, phone, phone chargers, and medical cards, were found in her room at a hostel in Beyoglu, Turkey. An official said authorities were therefore not able to track her by her cell phone."

January 30:
A Skype call was placed on her American cell phone

January 31:
Sierra's cell phone was activated again

[LINK]

This may be a case of semantics or lost in translation things, but saying "American cell phone" does imply there is another phone, too.

Thanks. I compared that paragraph with a similar one from several turkish websites. Seems like "phone charging cable" turned to "phone, charging cable"

In all these sources no mention of a phone in the room but it says "Its been determined her cell phone is switched off which is assumed to be on her hence it is not possible to track her by her cell phone"

Again Turkish media doesn't use the term "American cell phone". I googled again to make sure.

I do here you, Lavy, and I remember very well the talk that the press may have mistranslated "phone charger" as "phone".

But it doesn't make sense that the press kept carrying on about how they couldn't track her via pings because she left her local phone in her room.

Why wouldn't they just say they couldn't track her by pings because she had only her American phone?

It's never been cleared up for sure -- but yes, you're very right. It's possible she only ever had the one American phone.

Ok, then I can calm down

 

[ToutCa]

Evidence but not proof of the two phones theory:

Her belongings, including her passport, phone, phone chargers, and medical cards, were found in her room at a hostel in Beyoglu, Turkey. An official said authorities were therefore not able to track her by her cell phone.

LINK

It doesn't make the "two phones" theory PROVEN, just note that this statement and similar ones were widely reported in the press.

FWIW

 

[Herat]

The statement that she was killed by blows from a heavy object to the back of the head and carried to the site she was found

This is not clearly a direct, clean translation of a statement from LE, so we need to parse it carefully.

Blow or blows?
Back of the head? I thought it was side of the head?
Carried to the site? I've heard both versions.

Heavy objects usually leave characteristic patterns in the wound: The outline of a hammerhead, the imprint of the butt or barrel of a gun, a flashlight, sharp outlines of a piece of wood, the odd rounded countours of a smooth rock, maybe bits of a brick or irregular rock. However, post-mortem changes can complicate the interpretation of these findings considerably.

A blow to the back of the head implies she was turned away from her assailant, possibly walking away.

What I don't get is the three broken fingers. It's not easy to break someone's fingers in an assault against a standing person. Usually just the fingernails are broken, but the fingers almost have to be against a flat surface to be broken. ?Another misplaced blow when she is on the ground? That is one heckuva force and again implies a huge rage, huge emotional force. Or a mechanical trauma like a car impact.

 

[bourne]

If Taylan had such a romantic interest in her, why did they only have two dates in the time that SS was in Istanbul? The third never happened, supposedly because he overslept.

TWO times...this is wild, crazy love? this fits more with the casual hookup story,then some besotted suitor. There is nothing to indicate he had any feelings for her at all.

They chatted online...well he has no job, it is something to do. He meets her, and if they were intimate, he doesn't even go to the trouble to get a room or take her home. The sex is meaningless...as is SHE to him. Then, suddenly, he hears from the husband. I'll bet he wanted no part of this trouble.

There is not one indication that SS was anything much to him. Even the last "date" that never happened, seems to have been instigated by HER. "Can you come?"

I don't think he was that into her. I doubt he has any major part in this.

I don't think Taylan was in love with Sarai. As for passion, I think it was animal lust and control that Taylan felt. I think he felt he could have any woman he want, and when Sarai rejected him that fateful day, his ego couldn't handle it. Come on, this man likely had women eating out of his hands. He was a handsome man from a prominent, well-to-do family, and he had studied abroad and earned a graduate degree -- as his lawyer keeps harping on. And here was this dainty small woman from America who won't return his seductive kisses and caresses. How dare she?! I think his huge narcissistic ego couldn't take it and he flew into a mad rage. Hey, it happens. It's called narcissistic entitlement.

Again, unless he has a solid alibi, it's Taylan. How certain am I? 99.95% lol

 

[bourne]

This is not clearly a direct, clean translation of a statement from LE, so we need to parse it carefully.

Blow or blows?
Back of the head? I thought it was side of the head?
Carried to the site? I've heard both versions.

Heavy objects usually leave characteristic patterns in the wound: The outline of a hammerhead, the imprint of the butt or barrel of a gun, a flashlight, sharp outlines of a piece of wood, the odd rounded countours of a smooth rock, maybe bits of a brick or irregular rock. However, post-mortem changes can complicate the interpretation of these findings considerably.

A blow to the back of the head implies she was turned away from her assailant, possibly walking away.

What I don't get is the three broken fingers. It's not easy to break someone's fingers in an assault against a standing person. Usually just the fingernails are broken, but the fingers almost have to be against a flat surface to be broken. ?Another misplaced blow when she is on the ground? That is one heckuva force and again implies a huge rage, huge emotional force. Or a mechanical trauma like a car impact.

We need the autopsy report. Badly.

 

[Munich]

Evidence but not proof of the two phones theory:



LINK

It doesn't make the "two phones" theory PROVEN, just note that this statement and similar ones were widely reported in the press.

FWIW

phone chargers also implies more than one, but unfortunately we don't know at this point between the two languages.

 

[ToutCa]

Thanks. I compared that paragraph with a similar one from several turkish websites. Seems like "phone charging cable" turned to "phone, charging cable"

I agree that it could all come down to a mistranslation.

It's not proven either way, but we would be wise to doubt the existence of a "Turkish cellphone" belonging to SS.

If it doesn't exist, it's somewhat of a blow to the "SS master criminal" theories.

 

[ThinkHard]

I don't think Taylan was in love with Sarai. As for passion, I think it was animal lust and control that Taylan felt. I think he felt he could have any woman he want, and when Sarai rejected him that fateful day, his ego couldn't handle it. Come on, this man likely had women eating out of his hands. And here was this dainty small woman from America who won't return his seductive kisses and caresses. How dare she?! I think his huge narcissistic ego couldn't take it and he flew into a mad rage. Hey, it happens. It's called narcissistic entitlement.

Again, unless he has a solid alibi, it's Taylan. How certain am I? 99.95% lol

Keep in mind though that there are at least 3 other IG friends who are under close suspicion and have had DNA samples taken. And are 3 of the 5 people (the other two are taylan and a homeless man ) who LE is focusing on. We have heard very little about these others.

And while I tend to follow a similar idea on what happened to her, with knowing very little about her interaction with these other three, it could have just as easily been one of them.

 

[bourne]

Evidence but not proof of the two phones theory:



LINK

It doesn't make the "two phones" theory PROVEN, just note that this statement and similar ones were widely reported in the press.

FWIW

Strange. Seems to mean that her cellphone was in the apartment then and that was the reason they couldn't track her. So she only had the cellphone then?

 

[lavy]

I agree that it could all come down to a mistranslation.

It's not proven either way, but we would be wise to doubt the existence of a "Turkish cellphone" belonging to SS.

If it doesn't exist, it's somewhat of a blow to the "SS master criminal" theories.

Yes now I feel bad to ruin many interesting theories.

Maybe I should apply to Nypost as a translator, try to learn more.

I'll probably be fired at the end of the day for questioning every single word but worth trying.

 

[Yashim]

No proof either way.

Yashim needs to use his LE connections to just get us a ****ing list of what they recovered in her room, along with the current status of DNA tests, her gmail and online chats, and who they are leaning toward right now and why.

Yashim?

They got me off the case, too.

They said I was too obsessed with the druggie theory.

I am now writing traffic tickets to pedestrians, if I can stop them.

 

[Yashim]

Again Turkish media doesn't use the term "American cell phone". I googled again to make sure.

In Turkey, we just don't discriminate between cell phones.

Makes no difference for us whether American/Turkish, Single SIM/Multiple SIM, Bar/Slide, Bluetooth/No Bluetooth, Camera/No Camera, 3G/4G.

That's how we are raised.

Just to let you know.

I have growing suspicions that I am no longer contributing to the discussion. lease:

 

[ToutCa]

They got me off the case, too.

They said I was too obsessed with the druggie theory.

I am now writing traffic tickets to pedestrians, if I can stop them.

We shouldn't disturb you then while you keep Istanbul's streets free of jay-walking.

Because jay-walking never happens in Istanbul. Never.

 

[lavy]

In Turkey, we just don't discriminate between cell phones.

Makes no difference for us whether American/Turkish, Single SIM/Multiple SIM, Bar/Slide, Bluetooth/No Bluetooth, Camera/No Camera, 3G/4G.

That's how we are raised.

Just to let you know.

I have growing suspicions that I am no longer contributing to the discussion. lease:

Aww I am such a phone racist and definitely not politically correct. Sorry everyone.
I need to go an apologize from both of my phones now.

I'll try to bring up a new question. Somebody mentioned (i think last week) Skype is very protective about privacy and they don't give their records to LE. Is that true? Do you think police asked for the info?

 

[Munich]

This is not clearly a direct, clean translation of a statement from LE, so we need to parse it carefully.

Blow or blows?
Back of the head? I thought it was side of the head?
Carried to the site? I've heard both versions.

Heavy objects usually leave characteristic patterns in the wound: The outline of a hammerhead, the imprint of the butt or barrel of a gun, a flashlight, sharp outlines of a piece of wood, the odd rounded countours of a smooth rock, maybe bits of a brick or irregular rock. However, post-mortem changes can complicate the interpretation of these findings considerably.

A blow to the back of the head implies she was turned away from her assailant, possibly walking away.

What I don't get is the three broken fingers. It's not easy to break someone's fingers in an assault against a standing person. Usually just the fingernails are broken, but the fingers almost have to be against a flat surface to be broken. ?Another misplaced blow when she is on the ground? That is one heckuva force and again implies a huge rage, huge emotional force. Or a mechanical trauma like a car impact.

:::this is unsubstantiated:::

From what I've read many of her injuries are consistent with a fall from a reasonable height, but it doesn't explain everything and like everything in this case only makes more questions.

Initially reports said it was the left side of her head with so much bruising that her face was not recognizable. There was also a nasty chin gash, her wrist(s?) has scratches, there are several broken fingers, and her right hip was severely injured. There is also said to be quite a bit of bruising on her legs. It was said it was "clear" that the head injury was what caused her death, although her entire body had been beaten.

I wondered if being threatened with a knife could do the chin injury, because it's an odd place to be injured (unless falling).

Someone in a previous tread mentioned her potentially being hit by a car, but there would be blood on the pavement.

slight off topic, but a friend of mine fell from a second story window onto concrete. She broke her jaw, shattered her knee, her wrist, and narrowly missed steps. The concrete needed bleached and she didn't have nearly the same blood loss that would come with this massive head injury, so I am thinking the hit by a car theory wouldn't quite fit.

SS's attacker clearly inflicted these wounds and they don't sound like something that only falling would create.

 

[Yashim]

Aww I am such a phone racist and definitely not politically correct. Sorry everyone.
I need to go an apologize from both of my phones now.

I'll try to bring up a new question. Somebody mentioned (i think last week) Skype is very protective about privacy and they don't give their records to LE. Is that true? Do you think police asked for the info?

I hope you're not asking me. I have only skyped once in my life. And that was with myself. In other words, I kind of masturskyped.

 

[bourne]

And maybe he was told not to go inside because LE planned to go through her room for clues of her whereabouts. SS probably went there to interview the people who would have been among the last to see his wife before she disappeared.

I've followed the case in the media, but this is the first I've read about it here on WS so I don't know what was discussed on earlier threads. My first thought when I read about Sarai's murder was that she was taking pictures when she happened upon some people engaging in criminal behavior and they killed her because they thought she had photographed them. That would explain why her iPod/iPad are missing. If some of Sarai's IG contacts were criminals, then I think it's likely they were involved. She may have shown up early at the place where she was to meet Taylan and caught her acquaintances by surprise. I don't think their meeting place was far from the location her body was found, was it?

I also doubt Taylan's claim that he and Sarai had an affair. Wouldn't she have stayed with him rather than in a small hostel in an allegedly seedy neighborhood, or at the very least he would have picked her up at the hostel. Surveillance cameras also showed that Sarai ate and walked alone on Jan. 20. So, it doesn't seem her relationship with Taylan was that intimate. My impression was that Taylan was supplying a ready explanation as to why his DNA will be found on Sarai's body.

Also, Sarai's face had been so disfigured by her attacker(s) that she was unrecognizable when found. This would indicate that someone didn't want the body to be readily identified, suggesting that the perp(s) knew Sarai and feared being traced to her.

I also don't believe Sarai had time to have an affair during her trip. She was frequently in contact with family. I hope LE has collected all of the communications Sarai had with family and friends in the U.S. and are using them to construct a timeline.

LE can't tell you what to do with respect to the room your spouse is staying in unless they suspected she was killed there. And at that point, they were only aware that Sarai had gone missing.

I'm with you 100%. Taylan is lying. I don't think she had an affair with him. I don't even believe they had a one-night stand, in a toilet no less. I think he concocted the story in order to explain his semen on her when he tried to have sex with her on the day she died. Was semen even found on her body?We don't have confirmation from LE. And now, his lawyer's been asserting that he never even had sex with her. So what are the facts?

 

[Yashim]

There is an eerie lull in the air.

Just no mention in the media.

Hmmm.

 

[lavy]

I hope you're not asking me. I have only skyped once in my life. And that was with myself. In other words, I kind of masturskyped.

:floorlaugh:

No that was for everyone, now that I objected the second phone issue I feel obliged to find something else to discuss.

 

[ToutCa]

There is an eerie lull in the air.

Just no mention in the media.

Hmmm.

Almost as if they've been reined in and told to stop speculating and publishing leaks!