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

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I'm sorry that it started and ended in this way.

I came across a man sniffing inhalants on the Galata Bridge last week and kept a wide berth.

Rest in peace Sarai.
 
Thank you for your post detailing the effects of inhalants, Fantazteko! I was doubting that Z acted alone, first of all, for the reason English stated -- that his memory seems very sharp for someone who was supposedly under the influence of a hallucinogen. I didn't doubt that he would be capable of violence if he'd inhaled paint thinner, though. Vincent Van Gogh was addicted to the terpenes in paint thinner and is believed to have cut off his ear while under their influence. If someone is capable of committing such violence against his own person in this mind-altered state, a user would certainly be capable of committing murder. As to the question of Z's memory, though, it appears from your list that there is a wide range of effects from inhalants. I suppose they could affect different people in different ways, and depending on the dosage.

The second problem I've had with the notion that Z acted alone is my suspicions toward Taylan. As I said before, I was convinced he claimed a sexual relationship with Sarai as a legal defense because he expected LE to find his DNA on SS. The only other possibilities that might explain why T fabricated such a story (that I can think of) are:

1.) T believed he would be quickly dismissed as a suspect if he claimed to have an emotional attachment to SS -- until he got a lawyer who convinced him otherwise.

2.) Egotistically, T basked in the publicity that SS's death brought him, feeling that an intimate, illicit relationship with an American tourist, later found murdered, would give him an air of mystique and machismo.

I only hope that LE have their man, with sufficient evidence that he acted alone. I hate to imagine what Sarai may have experienced in her last moments and wouldn't want anyone else to suffer the same fate. May there be justice for Sarai and a measure of peace for her family knowing that justice was served.
 
Thank you for your post detailing the effects of inhalants, Fantazteko! I was doubting that Z acted alone, first of all, for the reason English stated -- that his memory seems very sharp for someone who was supposedly under the influence of a hallucinogen. I didn't doubt that he would be capable of violence if he'd inhaled paint thinner, though. Vincent Van Gogh was addicted to the terpenes in paint thinner and is believed to have cut off his ear while under their influence. If someone is capable of committing such violence against his own person in this mind-altered state, a user would certainly be capable of committing murder. As to the question of Z's memory, though, it appears from your list that there is a wide range of effects from inhalants. I suppose they could affect different people in different ways, and depending on the dosage.
Let’s not forget all the various readily available inhalants and their respective potency. One reason for his alleged excessive use that day could have been due to inhaling a substance packing a weaker punch. Plus, if he was using more than one drug that day, he’d get a different effect from the interacting properties.
 
The second problem I've had with the notion that Z acted alone is my suspicions toward Taylan. As I said before, I was convinced he claimed a sexual relationship with Sarai as a legal defense because he expected LE to find his DNA on SS. The only other possibilities that might explain why T fabricated such a story (that I can think of) are:

1.) T believed he would be quickly dismissed as a suspect if he claimed to have an emotional attachment to SS -- until he got a lawyer who convinced him otherwise.

2.) Egotistically, T basked in the publicity that SS's death brought him, feeling that an intimate, illicit relationship with an American tourist, later found murdered, would give him an air of mystique and machismo.
Regarding Taylan’s affair with her, in previous threads these reports were declared rumors, and never actually substantiated by anyone. But be forewarned my recollection of this is kind of foggy.

Law enforcement will sometimes collaborate with the media to misinform the public in an attempt to instigate a response from their suspect. Perhaps that was done here, to coerce Taylan’s cooperation, or check whether he would panic and try to flee. They would have undercover officers ready to nab him.
 
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/turk_slay_hubby_doubts_JOj1aXzeZqpAaLiBfDGs2O?amp

Steven expressing his doubts: "...Ziya T.’s detailed confession might have been coerced by police..."
Interesting that Sarai’s husband is doubtful. His questions are justified.

Perhaps if there hadn’t been countless rumors and other disrespectful theories about his wife from the get-go, he’d have more confidence in how things are done in Turkey. Then again, his unwillingness to accept these developments might be a hint at some undisclosed information only he has, or unmentionable truth. Perhaps it's just a gut feeling of his...
 
In the last thread, I posted some symptoms of inhalant abuse. You can also if you wish google for recovering addicts testimonials, or statements from their mentors, to get a better idea.

Here’s what I found that I posted previously…

Most inhalants depress the nervous system, resulting in effects similar to those of alcohol, according to Dr. Eric Chudler, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington's Department of Bioengineering in Seattle. Inhalants cause relaxation, euphoria, slurred speech, hallucinations, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Users of inhalants may lose the ability to walk, talk or think. Other noticeable signs in people using inhalants include nosebleeds, runny nose or reddened eyes. Sudden violent behavior may result because of the effect inhalants have on the brain, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA).

Source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/117072-side-effects-inhalants/

Most inhalants act directly on the nervous system to produce mind-altering effects. Within seconds, the user experiences intoxication and other effects similar to those from alcohol. There are a variety of effects that may be experienced during or shortly after use, including:
• Slurred speech
• Drunk, dizzy or dazed appearance
• Inability to coordinate movement
• Hallucinations and delusions
• Hostility
• Apathy
• Impaired judgment
• Unconsciousness
• Severe headaches
• Rashes around the nose and mouth
• Prolonged sniffing of these chemicals can induce irregular and rapid heartbeat and lead to heart failure and death within minutes.
• Death from suffocation can occur by replacing oxygen in the lungs with the chemical, and then in the central nervous system, so that breathing ceases.

Long-term users have experienced:
• Muscle weakness
• Disorientation
• Lack of coordination
• Irritability
• Depression
• Serious and sometimes irreversible damage to the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs and brain
• Memory impairment, diminished intelligence
• Hearing loss
• Bone marrow damage
• Deaths from heart failure or asphyxiation (loss of oxygen)


Source: http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/inhalants/effects.html

I apologize if this comes out rather long.

Thank you very much for his very informative post Fantazteko I really appreciate it. Great to have you here on Websleuths!
 
Hey guys, my worst fears materialized today after I just found out from the girl I'm seeing who met up with her gf in Istanbul to see Turkey, that on her last day today in the spice market after going and coming back from the Asian side, some guy followed her. Basically her gf left for home this morning and she's flying out today too but had the day by herself so she went to bridge, Asian side and spice market. Some douche followed her and she told him to stop and he wouldn't!!! Now that's the crazy part, after confronting him he didn't stop? She went to a mosque and told the mosque guard at which point the guy disappeared yet she waited in the mosque a long time before leaving.

Seriously? I'm pissed off! I would like nothing better than to be there and kick the *ish out of this guy. I'm extremely built and a passionate hot headed Egyptian. Believe me this guy would have been destroyed.

Wtf is wrong with men over there? I know its all over but being followed aggressively does NOT happen in Canada/US like its normal. Its ridiculous. I know crazy *ish has been happening in Egypt too, even worse with the crowd rapes. It is ALL unacceptable.
 
Z not the main perpetrator? Don't see that.

His 'video confession' looks staged, yes. But it doesn't look part of a brilliantly orchestrated cover-up. Some journo paid him a bit for a drug-fuzzied soundbite. EDIT: I mean he remembers some and fantasizes some, his memory fuzzy from being on drugs at that time. EDIT END. Or he just wants/has been advised to play nice.

I'm confident he will tell LE some detail only the killer can know. This outcome is what the DNA points to.

What else is possible? How probable is it?

1. There is the unlikely possibility that an someone hired Z to do the killing and arranged for SS to go there. But then why let Z stay in sight afterwards? He should have been brought away immediately.

2. A cold-blooded killer could have planned the meeting, did the killing and framed drugged-out Z. But how could they be certain to be safe from being seen or surveilled? IMO LE is looking very very hard into this. The present "doped killers lure in our front yard" story can't be their dream solution.

3. A rape gang spontaneously used drugged-out Z as a scapegoat. How did they silence local witnesses and plant evidence that fooled LE?

All 3 scenarios are by a long shot too improbable IMO.

Z seems to want to say he didn't mean to kill. Maybe that is true. But he meant, in one way or another, to attack.
 
…

Wtf is wrong with men over there? I know its all over but being followed aggressively does NOT happen in Canada/US like its normal. Its ridiculous. I know crazy *ish has been happening in Egypt too, even worse with the crowd rapes. It is ALL unacceptable.

I'm glad your girlfriend has come out of this OK and wish her a safe trip home. Female visitors and expats in Istanbul have reported here that ignoring cat callers mostly makes them stop. That's not enough, society must condemn it. I think seeking help was the best thing to do when ignoring didn't work.
 
For some reason I can't post the link but if you copy and paste the following it shows footage taken from cameras on trains. Perhaps some of the 95% known by police some time ago.

http://www.aksam.com.tr/guncel/iste-cinayet-ani/haber-179810

Footage can also be viewed from here.

That footage comes from a commuter train passing by and managed to capture Sarai with Ziya trailing her. Must be moments before the actual murder.

Everything is conclusive so far with Ziya's confession... I fail to see any loose ends at all. Perhaps this would be a good time to dispense with wild theories about the murder?
 
Footage can also be viewed from here.

That footage comes from a commuter train passing by and managed to capture Sarai with Ziya trailing her. Must be moments before the actual murder.

Everything is conclusive so far with Ziya's confession... I fail to see any loose ends at all. Perhaps this would be a good time to dispense with wild theories about the murder?

Absolutely agree. My 2nd last post was only because it seemed to me T's strange EDIT video END EDIT 'confession' made people again doubt his role.

Thanks everybody for bringing all this latest info in. Shame on Daily Mail who still don't stop airing personal stuff about the poor family!
 
Absolutely agree. My 2nd last post was only because it seemed to me T's strange EDIT video END EDIT 'confession' made people again doubt his role.

Thanks everybody for bringing all this latest info in. Shame on Daily Mail who still don't stop airing personal stuff about the poor family!

Mm. Of course I meant Z's strange video 'confession'. <banging my head>
 
I'm glad your girlfriend has come out of this OK and wish her a safe trip home. Female visitors and expats in Istanbul have reported here that ignoring cat callers mostly makes them stop. That's not enough, society must condemn it. I think seeking help was the best thing to do when ignoring didn't work.


Thank you. She just got home safe last night.

She told me other details which made it seem more odd to me.

Anyone from Turkey, I would appreciate your opinions on this.

Supposedly not only was he following her for about 20 mins, she really tried hard to lose him. He had followed her through the spice market very close, even when she stopped he would make effort to loiter around to keep following her, and even when she confronted him twice to stop he did not. The second time he said stuff in Turkish to her, he did not respond in english so obviously he should have realized there was no way they could talk, unles he was being funny or worse creepy. Not as if he wasn't already a CREEP. Then, after she got to a mosque he waited outside for her. After 20 mins or so and her telling the security guard, the guard told her to leave out the non tourist exist and when walking around the creep was gone. Now, he was also about her age, and she is 26, so not some old guy. She is also asian, and she says Turkish men have a fascination with asians? So it normal in Turkey for some guys to be so aggressive? with foreigners? Odd thing was he did not approach her to talk, he just followed her. I swear he was up to no good, his behavior does not even seem flirty, more like he would try to rape or rob her, or both. All I know, is even the mosque security guard joked "wha,t he is not your boyfriend?" The joke troubles me, almost like he thought it was normal, but even besides that, it just shows how weird it was he was so close to her to and into the mosque courtyard, and just waiting there for her.

CRAZY ISH. That is all I know.

I really want an opinion on this, it is very very strange to me.
 
For some reason I can't post the link but if you copy and paste the following it shows footage taken from cameras on trains. Perhaps some of the 95% known by police some time ago.

http://www.aksam.com.tr/guncel/iste-cinayet-ani/haber-179810

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/sarai-sierra-video-murder_n_2947912.html

Train camera...
"pink dress"???
She approached him in one version
He approached her in another version.
He wanted "a kiss".....
He "thought she was Turkish"....oh, hmm so it's OK to struggle with a woman and beat her to death so long as she is 'just a local' ?
Somewhat implausible...he ''only realized'' the woman was an American tourist after he saw news reports..(cell phone, IPad, screaming in English???)
Yech...why continue, this whole thing is too disgusting to contemplate further.
 
I wonder if he attacked just as the train goes past, that way no one would hear her screams.

I wonder if it was passenger train or cargo. If passenger might someone have seen the attack?

I recall in early days there was some discussion on here about the train, but others dismissed it...I forget why.
 

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