GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #1

[ami]

I think it's totally plausible that she missed her boys... and quite frankly, that reason is good enough for me to cut a trip short.

That said, however, I did some research on the college she was attending (a ways upthread) and registration for classes did not end until 1/31/13, well after she would have been home, even if she hadn't cut her trip short. Also, they allow online registration too. Not sure it would have been worth the extra fees to change the travel plans if she merely needed to register- something she could have done online, or would have had time to do upon her return.

I have wondered if something (or rather, someone) made her uncomfortable enough in Istanbul to feel it was in her best interest- safety wise- to go ahead and pay the extra fees and return home early. JMO.

Well on IG her comments on it were pretty straightforward - something about a snafu with the college - I can't remember the comment exactly, it wasn't necessarily just that she had to register, which she would have been aware of well before she left. She posted about it while she was in or just returning from A'dam, and at that point it sounded like she was having a great time.

I can't get to the comment anymore because the site I can view them on only shows the last hundred or so and so many people have been posting I can't see the early ones. Can anyone else see the older comments on her photos?

 

[CMac2]

Well on IG her comments on it were pretty straightforward - something about a snafu with the college - I can't remember the comment exactly, it wasn't necessarily just that she had to register, which she would have been aware of well before she left. She posted about it while she was in or just returning from A'dam, and at that point it sounded like she was having a great time.

I can't get to the comment anymore because the site I can view them on only shows the last hundred or so and so many people have been posting I can't see the early ones. Can anyone else see the older comments on her photos?

If her reason for returning was (at least in part) a safety concern, brought about by the same people who had befriended her online, it makes sense to me that she would have explained the change of plans (publicly on IG) as a snafu with the school. If I feared for my safety, and the people I was scared of were my IG friends, I wouldn't have posted the more private, person (REAL) reason for cutting my trip short on there either. I wouldn't want to tip them off.

That said, I have zero evidence or even real data to support any of what I just said, and it's all just MOO. Speculation, of course!

 

[ThinkHard]

I'm quite certain they last spoke to her on the 20th, the day before her flight. That the 21st was indeed the confirmed day if departure, and that she was arriving back the falling day, the 22. I remember that specifically because I thought it was atypical to have an overnight flight gong from Istanbul to New York....going to Istanbul it's typically always overnight leaving in the evening on the east coast and arriving the falling day. But flights going back to the US are typically day flights and getting you I the east coast on the same day you depart.

The latest flight I've ever had out of Istanbul was 330pm. So when I heard she had an overnight united flight home, I remember noting there can't be too many of them.

 

[ThinkHard]

The person who if dumped her there could have pulled her pants down just to degrade her.Maybe he doesn't like American women.

Possible. But highly unlikely. There just isn't that much anti-American sentiments in Istanbul as I think you are led to believe. It's more likely if it was done as a means to degrade, that it was women he had an issue with and not her nationality.

But in my opinion it seems staged. I really don't think a half nude body in that location would have gone unnoticed for 2 weeks.

 

[looking4answers]

I'm with you, my money is also on Taylan, as it's the most logical explanation (but one that also infuriates me as a male...why must men do such things??).

BUT I also think it's important to point out that his story, while weird, has been consistent. He says he IM'ed with SS on the 21st, went to the Galata Bridge to meet her, where a crucial email exchange was botched, he waited and waited, never saw her, and gave up and left. End of story.

I don't buy it. It sounds like something cleverly concocted to explain his presence where she disappeared (he may have been observed by witnesses or on CCTV video around there, or his phone pinging may place him there). I'll eat my words too if wrong, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't him.

I think it's totally plausible that she missed her boys... and quite frankly, that reason is good enough for me to cut a trip short.

That said, however, I did some research on the college she was attending (a ways upthread) and registration for classes did not end until 1/31/13, well after she would have been home, even if she hadn't cut her trip short. Also, they allow online registration too. Not sure it would have been worth the extra fees to change the travel plans if she merely needed to register- something she could have done online, or would have had time to do upon her return.

I have wondered if something (or rather, someone) made her uncomfortable enough in Istanbul to feel it was in her best interest- safety wise- to go ahead and pay the extra fees and return home early. JMO.

I disagree entirely with this theory.

She not only made it known she missed her kids, and posted on IG she wanted to be back to take care of school, but she also went out freely to sight see and try to meet up with a friend again to show her around and take pics her last day. Doesn't sound like someone acting differently or scared then as she stated she just missed her family as she told her friend in txt messages too.


Also, possible culprits:

1 Taylan (he lived not far from the spot she was found and was to meet her)

2 Guy renting her the apt (I saw someone post above about someone following her from place she stayed to that area) I think the police discounted the theory of her being followed though, so not sure how likely this is

3 Some other person who came to meet her. They never mentioned anyone else who msgd to meet her this specific day/time though, so unlikely.

4 Some random person following her / some random person in the area - who harmed her. Does not have to have anything to do with drugs, she had absolutely nothing to do with drugs. If some random crazy person had something to do with drugs, who cares, they are crazy, maybe they had a fascination with collecting stolen art. Who cares what a person did/does outside of the fact they decided to harm a stanger/female based on them being evil and snapping.

5. Car theory: Some random picked her up as a taxi? or abducted her and then brought her back there. A taxi would seem safe, and would also explain the car theory about someone seeing a car and a body being moved. Police chief discounts what the witness says though

 

[ThinkHard]

If she did die at that location from a head trauma. Most likely there would have been bleeding. If she was killed there she would have continue to bleed after she was left and there would be blood in the soil where she layer. The saturation of blood in the soil would be an indicator of where she died and how close it was to where she was left. If she was killed somewhere else her wound would have dried more and there would be far less blood in the soil.

That could be a very important clue.

 

[ami]

If her reason for returning was (at least in part) a safety concern, brought about by the same people who had befriended her online, it makes sense to me that she would have explained the change of plans (publicly on IG) as a snafu with the school. If I feared for my safety, and the people I was scared of were my IG friends, I wouldn't have posted the more private, person (REAL) reason for cutting my trip short on there either. I wouldn't want to tip them off.

That said, I have zero evidence or even real data to support any of what I just said, and it's all just MOO. Speculation, of course!

Yeah, I get that, I just don't really see any evidence that she was afraid for her safety. She walked with earphones in, and she was still attempting to meet with locals on her last day, so it kind of came across like she was comfortable there and not looking over her shoulder. And as far as we know, she didn't say anything to her husband about being afraid, though her A'dam friend (who turned out to seem to be a pretty stand up guy) did say he felt one IG poster and her landlord might be sketchy, which may have come from her.

 

[ThinkHard]

Perhaps the Turkish police are purposely leaking certain things to the Turkish media, in order to not scare off someone they may have a real lead on.

 

[tresptip]

Possible. But highly unlikely. There just isn't that much anti-American sentiments in Istanbul as I think you are led to believe. It's more likely if it was done as a means to degrade, that it was women he had an issue with and not her nationality.

But in my opinion it seems staged. I really don't think a half nude body in that location would have gone unnoticed for 2 weeks.

So, you think some woman did this to find out if Taylan had sex with her by making it look like it was rape so she would be tested for sperm.I find that somewhat bizarre.

 

[CMac2]

Yeah, I get that, I just don't really see any evidence that she was afraid for her safety. She walked with earphones in, and she was still attempting to meet with locals on her last day, so it kind of came across like she was comfortable there and not looking over her shoulder. And as far as we know, she didn't say anything to her husband about being afraid, though her A'dam friend (who turned out to seem to be a pretty stand up guy) did say he felt one IG poster and her landlord might be sketchy, which may have come from her.

I actually think you're right. Between what you said and what Looking4Answers said... I don't really think, in hindsight, she changed her travel plans out of a safety fear. At. least not a fear of Taylan.

As was stated previously- if that's the case, why in the world would she have initiated contact with him on her last day in Turkey, asking that they meet? Perhaps she SHOULD have been scared of him (I don't really know), but you guys are right- based on her behavior, she wasn't.

 

[Snoopster]

Provide link that says her panties were down.

Sorry, I was on my tablet and am not very adept at copy/paste!

Someone had mentioned that based on the google translated version of a new article (and the obvious lack of quality of that translation) it sounded like her panties were down around her knees. (You will notice that I typed the word 'if' in caps in my original post to emphasize the fact that it was dependent on two things -- possible erroneous media reporting and possible inaccurate translation.)

Here is the link.

http://www.aksam.com.tr/dehlizin-ucundan-tecavuz-gorundu--163669h.html


Here is the translation (for what it's worth) of the relevant section.

Sierra's body was found earlier in the day at the foot of the ramparts Sarayburnu based on research in Sarai his pants and underwear were lowered as much as the knee cap. The first symptoms are not a sign of rape or attempted rape rape of the U.S. women's exposure focuses on the killer.

Also at that link (hey, I'm back on my laptop and am functioning more normally (power outage break in the Superbowl -- go Ravens!) is a photo of the 'hole' that Sarai was found in.

ETA: Does anyone know if this source is the equivalent of a British tabloid?

 

[CMac2]

So, you think some woman did this to find out if Taylan had sex with her by making it look like it was rape so she would be tested for sperm.I find that somewhat bizarre.

That's not really how I interpreted it. More that if her pants were pulled down in an attempt to degrade SS, it wasn't done because she was American, and was likely done due to some personal motive- not because of her nationality. JMO- I could have misunderstood.

 

[lavy]

I am trying to trace back the news about her pants were pulled down. Apparently they are around since she was found. It is mentioned at few places; but none that I would consider as credible sources. I think if it was true it would be all around by now. I am not saying its definitely not true, maybe somebody got information from a good source we can never now for sure.

I am sure now that it is in few places it will spread around but I personally would ignore this one until it is officially confirmed.

ETA: Does anyone know if this source is the equivalent of a British tabloid?

They all are :floorlaugh: I wouldn't call it tabloid maybe but not in my list of credible sources. I would recommend haberturk, cnnturk, hurriyet.

 

[ThinkHard]

So, you think some woman did this to find out if Taylan had sex with her by making it look like it was rape so she would be tested for sperm.I find that somewhat bizarre.

That's not what I was implying at all.

 

[radiator]

Sorry, I was on my tablet and am not very adept at copy/paste!

Someone had mentioned that based on the google translated version of a new article (and the obvious lack of quality of that translation) it sounded like her panties were down around her knees. (You will notice that I typed the word 'if' in caps in my original post to emphasize the fact that it was dependent on two things -- possible erroneous media reporting and possible inaccurate translation.)

Here is the link.

http://www.aksam.com.tr/dehlizin-ucundan-tecavuz-gorundu--163669h.html


Here is the translation (for what it's worth) of the relevant section.




Also at that link (hey, I'm back on my laptop and am functioning more normally (power outage break in the Superbowl -- go Ravens!) is a photo of the 'hole' that Sarai was found in.

ETA: Does anyone know if this source is the equivalent of a British tabloid?

BBM - I was wondering that too. the graphics are certainly tabloid-ish.

 

[CMac2]

From my local news:

Sarai Sierra, the mother of two young children, had a room in a small basement apartment with bars on the windows and weak lighting. She was the only tourist in the building in a district where drug dealing is not uncommon.

"If you want to see hell, just go a few streets down," said Juliette Denptos, a French woman who lives on Komurcu Zeynel Street, where Sierra stayed. "The police may be near, but they don't protect us much."

The landlord of the apartment declined to comment, saying he was advised by police and his attorney not to speak to the news media or anyone else about the matter.

This is the first I've seen that the landlord has an attorney. Also, interesting to note description of the area- weak lighting in the building, drug dealing not uncommon. I guess it's sounding more and more plausible that a random act is at play here. Especially if she was perceived as "wealthy", as ThinkHard eluded to.

Not totally ready to let Taylan off the hook yet... but this does provide food for thought.

 

[tresptip]

That's not what I was implying at all.

You said staged. For what reason would it be staged?

 

[ThinkHard]

So, you think some woman did this to find out if Taylan had sex with her by making it look like it was rape so she would be tested for sperm.I find that somewhat bizarre.

I'm not really sure how you got that out of what I wrote. But what I meant was if the only reason for her pants to be down was for the purpose of degrading her...there reason for degrading her would be more likely due to the fact that she was a women, not because she was an American. Meaning its more likely for a HE to degrade a murder victim in that way because they have an issue with women rather then in someone's nationality. Exposing a victims private parts is much indicative of a perpetrators feelings toward their gender then it would be for nationality. I hope I have made myself more clear.

The second part which you somehow misunderstood as well, was in reference to the fact I feel it was only staged by someone who wanted it to look like a sexual assault. I never said anything about a woman as the murder.

 

[lavy]

You said staged. For what reason would it be staged?

I am assuming just to mislead police. If its not sexual assault or robery they would focus on a personal attack. If they think it is a sexual assault than they would focus on drug addicts living in that area. Am I right?

 

[ThinkHard]

You said staged. For what reason would it be staged?

I explained that at length in a previous post. You can go back and read it, it's too long to type again. If your still confused by what I meant you can ask me what I meant then.

Not trying to be rude but it was a long post.