GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #6

[delal]

If the ipad and phone were thrown into the sea, how could they have been activated to use skype in the following days??

 

[Blackydress]

Thanks, looks very interesting but i cannot understand it .

This is 2 days old actually but just posted in youtube. Cuneyt Ozdemir (for me and in my opinion) is a highly respected journalist and writer. He is also the anchorman in CNNTURK. Lady journalist is Allison, an American, lives in Turkey she is an independent correspondent and also contributes to Washington Post. She's been following SS's murder and I've been following her articles in Todays Zaman online. I respect them both. I think this program shows the events from Ally's point of view.

Unfortunately, I am very busy today. I will watch the program (approx. 1 hour long) and try to translate the relevant point when my work allows me. In the meantime maybe somebody who know Turkish can translate.

 

[delal]

I watched the first five minutes. It's Sarai's murder, step by step, walking through her footsteps. So far no new info just recap of her story.

 

[alpmighty]

I wonder why he said she took a picture with a camera when it's clear she definitely didn't have a camera.

I'll check out the original Turkish article and make sure usage of the word 'camera' is not a result of translation oversight.

 

[StCirq]

<<This is an interesting idea, that Ziya could have bought a ticket and not used it.>>

But there have been reports from the bus driver that Ziya was on the bus, sat quietly for the whole ride, and wasn't disruptive in any way.

 

[alpmighty]

Here is the original Turkish article: http://www.sabah.com.tr/Gundem/2013/02/20/yastiktaki-sac-teli-katili-ele-verdi

And this is what Hasan B. gave as his statement: "Kan örne&#287;i al&#305;nan evsizlerden Hasan B. (34) "Sierra surlarda dola&#351;&#305;yordu. Telefonuyla foto&#287;raflar&#305;m&#305;z&#305; çekti. Yan&#305;m&#305;zdan ayr&#305;ld&#305;. 10 dakika sonra ba&#287;&#305;rd&#305;&#287;&#305;n&#305; duyduk" diye ifade verdi."

As you can notice the words 'telephone' and 'photograph' in bold in Turkish, Hasan B. never said that SS took their pictures with a camera. He said "SS took our pictures with her phone".

There is no camera, my fellow sleuthers. The word camera appearing in the English translation of the article is an oversight on the part of the translator.

This is not the first translation mistake I've noticed that lead sleuthers here wrong. For the same reason, I always insist to theorize and analyze on credible information.

Otherwise, we are bound to go on repetitive wild goose chases.

Be wary of the media reports, for they can be based on faulty translation, or sheer speculation.

 

[alpmighty]

<<This is an interesting idea, that Ziya could have bought a ticket and not used it.>>

But there have been reports from the bus driver that Ziya was on the bus, sat quietly for the whole ride, and wasn't disruptive in any way.

Ziya was surveilled in Hatay main bus terminal, wasn't he?

 

[alpmighty]

I don't think Ziya is running from police, I think he is running from something else.

I'm not sure who....

....but i was thinking about why a homeless man who has committed petty crimes to go to prison in the winter, (and who told people he had only 6 months to live), would be so afraid to go to prison again, even for murder....that he would flee to war torn Syria where he would easily stand out.

It just doesn't make sense....it doesn't seem to me like it would be the law or prison he would be in so much fear of to make such a journey.

I was also tossing around in my head, the fact he supposedly told someone he had a friend from military service who lived in hatay and could help him....but it turns out he didn't.....if he did have some involvement in this crime but his involvement was recruited but someone with more resources....could they possibly have promised him resources to flee into Syria....could the connect in hatay not be a lie, but the lie was that the connect was a military companion?

Could this connect have gotten him across the boarder only to kill him after?

Just pondering.

Well, when it comes to the friend from the military service, I must say again, being from Hatay and living in Hatay may not always be the same thing.

Although I also recall a Turkish article from yesterday stating that LE couldn't find any friends of Ziya from Hatay from his military service.

They must have gone through his military service records and the corresponding unit roster of the time he served. But how they might have gone through it eludes me. Have they looked for others who served in the same unit which were born in Hatay? Have they checked other units that were deployed in the same area? Perhaps a friend from service that was from Hatay wasn't actually born in Hatay but his family was from Hatay, and he was born somewhere else instead? There are too many variables to consider. I can't be very confident about whether such a friend exists or not. All I can be sure of is Ziya's brother said he had such a friend, or that's what Ziya told him.

 

[ozma]

Ziya was surveilled in Hatay main bus terminal, wasn't he?

Yes...the quote in St. Cirq's post is from my post of yesterday (#20), which goes on to note that Ziya indeed did use the ticket because the bus attendant recognized him and he was seen by security cameras in the Hatay otogar (does anyone know where this is?).

 

[Meri]

If I remember correctly the message conversation between sarai and Taylan, was

11:30am Sarai to Taylan "I'm crossing the tower now, will you meet me?"
12:15pm sarai to Taylan "I'm leaving now" and then something weird like, text me if you want my wireless I can't remember exactly.
12:45 Taylan to sarai "I'll meet you there, I assume you have wireless "

It was something roughly like that, don't take the quote as exact, but I read them so many times, so I know they are close. This was the exchange reported many many times in media BEFORE sarai was found.

There were some rumors/reports that Taylan told LE the were suppose to meet at Galata bridge, eminonu side, and he went there, but couldn't find her.

Then later after her body was found, there were some reportss that said something about how they were gonna go to the walls, and she said something like you don't have to come if you don't want to.

I never saw the actual transcript of these later claims though, so I never knew how true they were. Or if they were Taylan back peddling.

And yes the last know still is from the eminonu side of the Galata bridge, but not right near the bridge...further up the road, closer to serkeci.

I think we did see texts like this - where she said something like, "you don't have to go with me, I can walk around by myself"? Do you remember reading those?

 

[StCirq]

<<Ziya was surveilled in Hatay main bus terminal, wasn't he? >>

I believe I read that somewhere, but can't remember where...and given all the mistranslations and just plain bad information we've seen, not sure it would be accurate. The other thing I remember reading is that the LE missed picking up Ziya by about 10 minutes after he arrived in Hatay.

I'll see if I can locate the sources.

 

[alpmighty]

Thanks, looks very interesting but i cannot understand it .

Even though I despise Cuneyt for I find him too sensationalist, I'll put up with him and review the video and share my observations here.

 

[alpmighty]

<<Ziya was surveilled in Hatay main bus terminal, wasn't he? >>

I believe I read that somewhere, but can't remember where...and given all the mistranslations and just plain bad information we've seen, not sure it would be accurate. The other thing I remember reading is that the LE missed picking up Ziya by about 10 minutes after he arrived in Hatay.

I'll see if I can locate the sources.

I have Turkish articles stating clearly he was surveilled in Hatay bus terminal. Should I post them here?

 

[delal]

in the Hatay otogar (does anyone know where this is?).

My educated guess is that "Hatay otogar" is actually Antakya otogar. Stick it into google maps and see marker A.

 

[alpmighty]

I think we did see texts like this - where she said something like, "you don't have to go with me, I can walk around by myself"? Do you remember reading those?

I remember reading such in Turkish articles, I'll go through that angle and provide sources. Hopefully, ThinkHard will not start to scheme as to how it would be convenient to end my life.

 

[ThinkHard]

Well, when it comes to the friend from the military service, I must say again, being from Hatay and living in Hatay may not always be the same thing.

Although I also recall a Turkish article from yesterday stating that LE couldn't find any friends of Ziya from Hatay from his military service.

They must have gone through his military service records and the corresponding unit roster of the time he served. But how they might have gone through it eludes me. Have they looked for others who served in the same unit which were born in Hatay? Have they checked other units that were deployed in the same area? Perhaps a friend from service that was from Hatay wasn't actually born in Hatay but his family was from Hatay, and he was born somewhere else instead? There are too many variables to consider. I can't be very confident about whether such a friend exists or not. All I can be sure of is Ziya's brother said he had such a friend, or that's what Ziya told him.

I wasnt saying I was sure of anything. Only putting out a theory.

I had actually already assumed that they were basing their idea that he did not have a friend in hatay on his military regime records. And though yes I understand that the army might not have full knowledge on who is presently living where....I was theororizing that perhaps there could be another reason for his comment as well.

 

[alpmighty]

My educated guess is that "Hatay otogar" is actually Antakya otogar. Stick it into google maps and see marker A.

Correct. In every province, there's a major bus terminal in the center city of the province and there are several minor ones located in counties.

Long distance bus routes almost always end up in major terminals, and from there, if you want to go to counties, you catch local short distance bus services.

 

[ozma]

<<Ziya was surveilled in Hatay main bus terminal, wasn't he? >>

I believe I read that somewhere, but can't remember where...and given all the mistranslations and just plain bad information we've seen, not sure it would be accurate. The other thing I remember reading is that the LE missed picking up Ziya by about 10 minutes after he arrived in Hatay.

I'll see if I can locate the sources.

Please see Blackydress's post #6, which contains a link to a Turkish-language article; my post #20, third paragraph; and Blackydress's response, post#56. [Sorry not to quote them here, I haven't learned how to do multiple quotes yet.] Thanks.

 

[ThinkHard]

I think we did see texts like this - where she said something like, "you don't have to go with me, I can walk around by myself"? Do you remember reading those?

No that's the thing, I only remember reading reference to those, conveniently after Sarai was found, I never remember actually seeing actually quotes on these exchanges. And always had doubts about then, as we were told originally those three message exchanges btw Taylan and sarai were the last messages exchanged btw them.

 

[alpmighty]

I really hope this case doesn't go cold. And I really hope that the 95% of the info LE has is useful and finds the truth, in its entirety, whatever it may be.

I feel that Ziya does know something important about this case, and fear that if he is not found, or found dead, LE might lose key information, and no one will ever know the truth.

Murder cases in Turkey hardly go cold. Yesterday, for instance, body of a college student who was missing for the last three years was discovered, and the perp was identified.