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

[Chewy]

Exactly. There is no jurisdiction or need for CIA per this case within the borders of Turkey. FBI already cooperates with Turkish National Police.

I hope this puts a rest to the theories of secret government operatives.

 

[zarra30]

I don't think those homeless scavengers would be offended by getting their pictures taken. Also, the tone of Hasan's statement does not show any indication of offense in getting his pictures taken.

Thanks,
It just occurred to me. Do you think that timeline, from 3:00 to 6:00 for her death, or whenever it was, might have something to do with her phone or IPad being on or activated during those hours, or simply going off for the last time at 6pm. Can technology point to such things, in your opinion?

 

[ThinkHard]

This case is strange. But I don't believe the eye witness statements from other homeless men's accounts. I do not believe Sarai would have been interested in taking their pictures.

I'm curious if they are not telling the truth why would they lie? What are the trying to accomplish by lying? Deflected their own involvement?

I also think its quite curious that we first heard DNA under nails and blood on shirt, and now all we are hearing is a small spot of blood on shirt.

I also think there may be something to Z's comment to a friend, that he was warned to leave or else this would be pinned on him. And his comments that he was done with Istanbul because something bad happened there.

I would think if he was guilty he wouldn't even bother to have made so many references to the murder. It seems more like he had knowledge, and some involvement but was not the murderer, at least to me.

I'm not trying to make my thoughts fit some bias. But rather I am trying to look at all the bits of information we have heard as a whole, to see how they all fit together.

To me, to simplify this case, at this point, as a wandering tourist and a crazy homeless man, IS using a confirmation bias by only applying the aspects we have heard that fit that scenario while ignoring a multitude of other factors.

Granted this case is difficult because it is hard to know how much truth is in any piece of information that has been reported, so it is impossible to speak of much in this case as absolutes.

But to simplify this case by only focusing on a few of the details we have heard, is unfair to the case, and unfair to Sarai. I encourage anyone of us to speculate, analyze, and discuss the facts and possibilities in this case without fear of being under attack for their ideas.

After all it is through thinking through ideas, no matter how much of a stretch they may seem to some, that might trigger and important "AH Ha" idea in others.

 

[Chewy]

It seems illogical that a completely innocent person, upon hearing he's a suspect in a murder would toss his entire life out the window and head to Syria because he's sick of Turkey.

His blood is on her shirt. He's involved. Dismissing that as a minor detail is a major mistake. Most of us don't get blood on each other. Even doctors don't get their blood on people.

And then that pesky little detail that she's been murdered.

Not believing something doesn't make it untrue.

 

[zarra30]

When I was in Egypt I wanted to take a photograph of a Bedouin woman in the valley beneath Sinai, what a great picture that would be.

I would imagine though, that Sarai had to know that taking pictures of women could be seen as disrespectful if they were wearing a hijab. But maybe she didn't really understand that men would take it the same way.


It may have been that she was taking pictures of scenery that didn't make sense to the guy, ex, she liked odd subjects, so perhaps he simply assumed she was taking pictures of them.

She didn't seem to use people as subjects, here in NYC it would not go over very well at all.

At the same time, recently there was a great deal of attention given to the film "The Wasteland" The subject of the film was garbage pickers.


Perhaps this may have influenced her and caused her to try to take pictures of the men. I'd like to see if she mentioned it anywhere on Instagram.


http://www.wastelandmovie.com/


ETA Thanks once again alpmighty for correcting the translation.

Chewy,
Good analysis, and yes I agree with your points. Anything is possible.

And Thanks so much for that link. Great trailer and I will try to see the documentary.

O/T Fernando Meirelles also directed 'City of God', another excellent film.

 

[ThinkHard]

There could be other reasons besides the law that could cause people to flee.

I do think Z is involved in some way, but I do not believe he was the only person involved in her murder.

I think it is note worthy, that we heard so much about DNA under nails, but in the recent report which confirms a 100% match to the blood, makes no mention of the DNA under nails.

None of us know what happened to her.

We are simply trying to make sense of the information that we have, and it is completely acceptable for each of us to have differing perspectives and theories, and ideas based on what we have read.

 

[Chewy]

Who is saying otherwise. People can discuss whatever they want, they just can't demand that all theories be given the same consideration.

For me, it's clear the man is involved. To have his blood on her is a huge red flag. First of all it is obvious that he's involved in taking her items. But then the blood makes it clear that he was injured while doing so or close to the time he encountered her.


Pushing aside evidence in favor of unfounded theories is pointless.

We do have evidence.

He's admitted some knowledge and understands he's been implicated. And he's decided to run.

His DNA and blood is on the victims body.

This facts can't be ignored or explained away in favor of a theory that minimizes their importance. They are hugely important.

Let's compare

If Casey Anthony had her blood on her daughters dead body, I doubt she would have been found not guilt. Same with OJ.

Transfer of blood is a very unusual thing.

 

[ThinkHard]

How is it obvious he is the one who took her items?

Additionally I have not pushed aside any evidence. I am just thinking outside the box on analyzing what that data means.

Evidence in this case is also a pretty loose term, considering we have no way to validate the accuracy of media reports.

 

[Chewy]

I don't think those homeless scavengers would be offended by getting their pictures taken. Also, the tone of Hasan's statement does not show any indication of offense in getting his pictures taken.

Chewy,
Good analysis, and yes I agree with your points. Anything is possible.

And Thanks so much for that link. Great trailer and I will try to see the documentary.

O/T Fernando Meirelles also directed 'City of God', another excellent film.

I'll check it out.

In this video report you can see the curve of the walls, the street and the highway, the railroad. IMO this is similar to Sarai's style of shots.


http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/sarai-sierras-body-found-missing-york-mom-found-...



http://instacanv.as/memyself_sarai

http://instacanv.as/memyself_sarai/piece/323992390240424117_20533443


http://instacanv.as/memyself_sarai/piece/252678122618867901_20533443


http://instacanv.as/memyself_sarai/piece/262991748198158394_20533443


http://instacanv.as/memyself_sarai/piece/287131842387497523_20533443



Also want to point something out. Several of her photos are taken right around the corner from my house, like one block. She's got shots of the Brooklyn side of the Verazzano Bridge and the Shore Road walking path.

It's weird how similar this looks to the area she was found in Instanbul. Here are a few pix on Google to show you what I mean. Seems to me she may have simply been drawn to the area because of the look and not been taking pictures of the men at all.


https://www.google.com/search?q=sho...goHwAw&biw=1366&bih=643&sei=E3suUcujMMStygHb3

 

[alpmighty]

Thanks,
It just occurred to me. Do you think that timeline, from 3:00 to 6:00 for her death, or whenever it was, might have something to do with her phone or IPad being on or activated during those hours, or simply going off for the last time at 6pm. Can technology point to such things, in your opinion?

It all depends on such devices ability to maintain connectivity.

Any mobile network or wireless network connection would leave behind a detectable trail. iPad maintains connection with Apple servers, even when nothing else on the device is used online for instance. Her Galaxy SIII, if she was roaming or using a local sim card, would be seen in mobile network logs as to when and more importantly where the device was connecting to the mobile network.

That's why I was curious before about this and was questioning in the previous threads as to whether SS was using roaming or a local prepaid sim card.

 

[SophieRose]

How is it obvious he is the one who took her items?

Additionally I have not pushed aside any evidence. I am just thinking outside the box on analyzing what that data means.

Evidence in this case is also a pretty loose term, considering we have no way to validate the accuracy of media reports.

If he didn't take her items, maybe he gave them to the others that some reports say helped him with moving the body.

 

[ThinkHard]

One of the many things that does not add up to me, is if what we have been told about Ziya is true, that he would commit petty crimes to go to prison in the cold months, then I just have a hard understanding why someone use to prison, would go through such drastic efforts to avoid something he was familiar with, if he was in fact guilty.

It makes me think he ran for his life, not to avoid imprisonment.

Also I think that if you knew you were innocent, but knew no one was going to believe you, and you would not be treated fairly, that would be a pretty good reason to go through such lengths to run.

 

[ThinkHard]

If he didn't take her items, maybe he gave them to the others that some reports say helped him with moving the body.

I was more just curious why another poster thought the fact Ziya was the one who took them at all was so obvious. I have not seen anything that makes us KNOW Z was ever in possession of her things.

I know there was the jacket story, but that was later discredited.

 

[Chewy]

l had the wrong video in the link above. I changed it but here it is again.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/sarai-sierras-body-found-missing-york-mom-found-...


Here's a video of a person walking along the area where she probably took the pictures of the Verazzano Bridge in Brooklyn.

Video

[video=youtube;JulP_JMhN5s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JulP_JMhN5s[/video]
(It's not a great video but you'll get the idea)

Here are the pix she took of the same area

Verazzano Bridge from Staten Island
http://instacanv.as/memyself_sarai/piece/250129171499831322_20533443


From Brooklyn

http://instacanv.as/memyself_sarai/piece/286102976898388293_20533443

 

[SophieRose]

One of the many things that does not add up to me, is if what we have been told about Ziya is true, that he would commit petty crimes to go to prison in the cold months, then I just have a hard understanding why someone use to prison, would go through such drastic efforts to avoid something he was familiar with, if he was in fact guilty.

It makes me think he ran for his life, not to avoid imprisonment.

Also I think that if you knew you were innocent, but knew no one was going to believe you, and you would not be treated fairly, that would be a pretty good reason to go through such lengths to run.

Going to prison for life or 25 years or whatever the length is not like spending winters months in jail. I don't know if it's like the US, but petty crime might just land you in jail vs prison (of course in the 3 strikes states, one would be in prison after the third year.)

 

[ThinkHard]

Going to prison for life or 25 years or whatever the length is not like spending winters months in jail. I don't know if it's like the US, but petty crime might just land you in jail vs prison (of course in the 3 strikes states, one would be in prison after the third year.)

True, yet I still think someone could be equally driven to run even if they were innocent, or not the sole perp, especially if he felt no one would believe him.

Also one report said he told a friend he had 6 months to live.

I don't know why he ran, who does, I just think there are STRONG reasons why someone would run, other then admission of guilt.

 

[monkey222]

Quoted
"It makes me think he ran for his life, not to avoid imprisonment".
--------------------------------------

IMO, Syria would not be an optimal place to run for your life, likewise, Z "alledgedly" from the media reports, sought small prisons stints to avoid homelessness.

 

[ThinkHard]

Quoted
"It makes me think he ran for his life, not to avoid imprisonment".
--------------------------------------

IMO, Syria would not be an optimal place to run for your life, likewise, Z "alledgedly" from the media reports, sought small prisons stints to avoid homelessness.

Well it might be the ideal place for one to sneak into undetected, and perhaps without documentation given its current political termoil.

It's certainly not the ideal place to take a vacation, but I think he was focused on disappearing not relaxing, so to me it does actually seem like an ideal move for him.

 

[zarra30]

Good point Chewy about the DNA, probably one of the best scenarios put out there, but what if she was robbed and she was looking for her stuff in his cave or even hiding there because someone was chasing her, and Z came upon her, she freaked out, attacked him, thinking he was violent or that he was one of the people she was trying to avoid. He let her go, she ran and ended up dead, but he had those scratches. I'm not saying that's what I think happened, only that it could, it's within the realm of possibility, low on the rung, but it's there.

What I think is great about a board like this is that anyone, from anywhere in the world, from any walk of life, can bring in their opinions and life knowledge and input. Even if we can't solve the crime we can take something of value away just by hearing what others have to say.

You're both right Chewy & Thinkhard, facts can't be ignored or explained away, but so many of these 'facts' have changed over time, wouldn't you agree?. So we are left with theories, some we may feel are implausible, some we may think make sense, but all theories should be welcome, and everyone should feel free to voice their opinion. I know I forget half the facts after awhile and I also realize I can come off arrogant sometimes when I am being facetious.

But one idea can lead to another. For instance, Chewy once mentioned Leiby Kletzky and I remember what a terrible tragedy that was. But it made me think how important time is in an investigation. In that case the immediate and massive response from the community who set up and volunteered at Command centers, offering rewards, sending facebook and twitter feeds, people searching houses, yards and every neighbor agreeing to look at their surveillance footage, was what led to finding the killer within a short time, wasn't it like 30 hours? One more day and it would probably have never been solved. In the case of SS, so much time was lost. I think Thinkhard's theories are intriguing.
When you two posters were offline, it was very... slow. I think people enjoy hearing what you guys have to say, and I hope you stay on.

I learned a lot about gold from both of you and several other posters even though you all sometimes agreed and disagreed. Another poster mentioned how in a fight an earring could be ripped from an ear or broken, so it's important how the earrings were found.

Criminals can be incredibly innovative, corruption exists, people can be mistaken for others, so anything is possible, and all ideas are helpful. Though in the end I think it will be the Istanbul LE who will solve it simply because they know their criminals and the territory.

I just want to let you guys know how much I respect your opinions.

 

[Chewy]

Going to prison for life or 25 years or whatever the length is not like spending winters months in jail. I don't know if it's like the US, but petty crime might just land you in jail vs prison (of course in the 3 strikes states, one would be in prison after the third year.)

Excellent point. He's wanted for murder not shoplifting. :waitasec:

If he thought it was just a petty crime and was only guilty of that, the evidence shows that he indeed would not have minded. So the fact that he is on the run shows he knows and knew right away he'd be wanted for more.

One could argue that he's innocent and knows he'll be blamed except for the very vivid and important fact that his blood is on her body.