GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #2

[KivaSupporter]

ThinkHard, you made me think. Of course, I still don't know what happened.

I do appreciate your thoughts. Thank you very much.

Ya know what I just realized.

If we find out that this Taylan story is true, meaning not that it actually happened, but if he actually SAID it happened.....

Then we can conclude at least one of two things is true:

-either there was indeed some sort of mutual feelings between him and Sarai

Or

- he killed her.

If the story is true tha he said it. What good reason would he have to lie about having an affair with her? He's accounting for a reason his DNA is there ONLY because he knows that his DND could be found on her. DNA that could prove at least one of these two things is true. He'd have no reason to lie about about how it happened, and there is only two ways it could have gotten there.
Now he could be lying and he never did have a thing with sarai, but the only reason he would have to lie is to cover his tracks at the crime scene.

If they did have an affair that doesn't prove he killed her though.

 

[bourne]

Yet another VERY sensible post. This is a sad and tragic story but for the life of me I just cannot believe that a husband...again, let me be quite frank, a young NYC Puerto Rican husband would allow his wife and the mother of his children to travel alone while couch surfing and sleeping at total strangers apt that she met online. Latin men are extremely passionate and protective of their women, especially the mother of their children. I just cannot believe this and it makes absolutely no sense to me. Born and raised in the Bronx and now living in Queens, I know the (NYC) Latin culture very well and know how protective Latin men are. Sorry these are just my views. I just cannot shake the thought that there is something more to this.

I have latino relatives. You're correct, they tend to be possessive and get jealous easily. So I don't know why Sarai's husband would have permitted her wife of two young sons to wander off on a solo trip overseas for 3 weeks except for the fact that her female friend had said she was supposed to accompany Sarai on the fantasy trip.

According to early versions of the story, the friend had "at the last minute" backed out due to financial constraints. But recent news articles quote the female friend as saying that she had backed out several MONTHS ago.

Which version is correct? Last minute backing out or months ago?

If it's months ago, it would likely be before payment was made on finalizing the airline ticket for Sarai. So Sarai could have also backed out then and I would think her latino hubby would want her to do so for her own safety. If the friend canceled last minute, well, the money was already paid, and since Sarai's family aren't wealthy, her hubby would probably not have minded as much her decision to visit foreign country solo.

 

[Rolandred]

Of course they rely on the Turkish press too much. They have all cut their budgets to the bone and among the first things to go is foreign correspondents.

Why do we trust the US media more?

The mainstream ones verify their sources before they go to print. That's really the only reason we have any trust in any of them. Their reporting usually stinks, but the top mainstream chains make an effort to verify their sources.

In order of trustworthiness:

NY Post - not trustworthy (tabloid)
Fox News - not very trustworthy (tabloid-y)
CNN/CBS/ABC/NBC - fairly trustworthy (make attempts to verify sources)

So I am wondering - where can one get reliable information ?- especially on a case like this (Websleuths?). I have great respect for a good investigative journalist - unfortunately, it seems information is controlled - by owners/management of a newspaper/LE.../government...etc...The truth is what everyone wants - but somehow the powers that be deny the general population of that "privilege"...I guess we are just simply left to speculate without any closure. Frustrating!

 

[Yashim]

Fares are cheap. I saw a $393 round trip fare to Istanbul in Feb last week. Kind of upsetting as I'm paying about 800 dollars for mine.

You're coming down here to check the crime scene? I wanted to go there, but I was worried how suspicious I could have looked after all we have been discussing.

 

[belimom]

This was something that I saw earlier that I just wanted to post. Everyone says that Sarai's friend backed out at the last minute. I haven't found a quote from her friend directly saying that, and we all wondered how you could plan a trip then back out at the last minute because of funds - that you would know what it costs up front and not at the last minute.

This article says her friend never planned on going and told Sarai "early on" that she could not afford to go. We still don't have a quote from the friend but it makes more sense. It also puts the whole trip under a different light --- instead of choosing to continue alone at the last minute, she knew well in advance and chose to go alone anyway.

The friend, Maggie Rodriguez, told The Post that Sierra began planning the trip “a few months ago” and that she alerted Sierra early on that she couldn’t afford to go with her.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/staten_island/turkey_ma_shady_pals_fufaVJvDX6chDrmhlmYZyL

 

[Yellow]

Does anyone know why Sarai chose the dead of Winter to take her dream of a lifetime trip?

I imagine it is significantly cheaper to go now rather than summer. Also, I imagine her kids are in school whereas during summer they are home. It was also a school break for her...

 

[KivaSupporter]

This. This is the post I read earlier today that I was talking about a few posts ago. Very well said.

Thank you belimom,

Well said and thought-provoking.

You sound like a wonderufl person I would like to be my friend.

God bless you! I hope you don't mind me saying so.

K.

 

[belimom]

Does anyone know why Sarai chose the dead of Winter to take her dream of a lifetime trip?

I read somewhere that it was between semesters for her. Not sure why she would choose winter rather than between other semesters, though. Cost? Less crowded? Different lighting at that time of year for photography?

 

[belimom]

Thank you belimom,

Well said and thought-provoking.

You sound like a wonderufl person I would like to be my friend.

God bless you! I hope you don't mind me saying so.

K.

Thank you... :blushing:... and same to you! But those beautiful words I quoted in the post your reference are from ToutCa. She said it much better than I could, although I completely agree. :seeya:

 

[tardislass]

You're coming down here to check the crime scene? I wanted to go there, but I was worried how suspicious I could have looked after all we have been discussing.

Watch out Geraldo Rivera. No, planned this last year. And I doubt the family would want to go anywhere near there.

 

[CMac2]

Does anyone know why Sarai chose the dead of Winter to take her dream of a lifetime trip?

Are the flights to Turkey cheaper during the "off season"? Is winter even considered "off season"? Better yet, is there such a thing as an off season in Turkey? I guess I shouldn't assume it's like taking a trip to Myrtle Beach or something.

 

[lavy]

Somewhere in these pages a mention was made of LE making a cell phone based search. Did they mean her other/local phone that she left at her hostel? Which begs the question would she have taken her local phone as well?

No its what CMac2 said they check the all the conversations during that day in that area. If they can't find anything obvious they contact people and ask what they were doing around.

It's my understanding that in a cell phone based search they will literally pull the records of all the cell phone users in that area and start looking through all the calls that were made on the date in question.

I found it odd- something they wouldn't have even been able to consider doing here in the U.S.

Apparently the Turkish officials had solved more than one murder in the past by using this method.

To be honest I found it odd for Turkey too. However they used in few big and complex cases before and it worked. It is only used as last resort in unsolved cases. I don't know why they want it in this stage.

This is a paragraph from a article about a case this was used:

After the Engin murder police carried out a detailed investigation to find the murderer(s). They watched surveillance records, Temel's phone calls. Questioned over 200 people. However no result came out of it. The most important trump is the phone call records from the base station. Police asked the permision from the court. It was denied three times because of "secrecy of private life". It was accepted and court asked TIB to give the recordings. Than TIB denied because of secrecy of private life. Than they went to a senior court etc. And it took 15 months to be ready.

Rotahaber http://haber.rotahaber.com/5-bin-telefon-gorusmesinde-katilin-izi-aranacak_89804.html#ixzz2KADaTtVS

 

[necco]

Could be something as simple as this was the time of year when she was out of school but the kids were still in it, therefore requiring less childcare adjustments.

I read somewhere that it was between semesters for her. Not sure why she would choose winter rather than between other semesters, though. Cost? Less crowded? Different lighting at that time of year for photography?

 

[Yellow]

This was something that I saw earlier that I just wanted to post. Everyone says that Sarai's friend backed out at the last minute. I haven't found a quote for her friend to say that, and we all wondered how you could plan a trip then back out at the last minute because of funds - that you would know what up front.

This article says her friend never planned on going and told Sarai "early on" that she could not afford to go. We still don't have a quote from the friend but it makes more sense.

Yes it does make sense that this friend never really was going to go, first, the main expense for the trip was the airfare. Did the friend purchase the airfare? What airline was it? Was it on Turkish airlines? If so if friend canceled, they would lose all their money bc the change fee would be irrelevant bc they would not be going on Turkish airlines for another trip(if airline was delta, American, etc, it makes more sense if friend canceled, bc then they could use remainder for something else). Actually I think it was a united flight...in any event, they either purchased airline or not and most people would not cancel for financial reasons after purchasing airfare.

the only big expense was the airfare. The hotel was cheap, would have cost only a $100 or two splitting. It does not seem she spent money for tours, etc.

Friend maybe backed out bc she did not want to go off meeting random people...

 

[KuriousKev]

Does anyone know why Sarai chose the dead of Winter to take her dream of a lifetime trip?

True. Why not take the trip in the summer when her children are out of school.

 

[tardislass]

This was something that I saw earlier that I just wanted to post. Everyone says that Sarai's friend backed out at the last minute. I haven't found a quote for her friend to say that, and we all wondered how you could plan a trip then back out at the last minute because of funds - that you would know what up front.

This article says her friend never planned on going and told Sarai "early on" that she could not afford to go. We still don't have a quote from the friend but it makes more sense. It also puts the whole trip under a different light --- instead of choosing to alone at the last minute, she knew well in advance and chose to go alone anyway.

I could have sworn early reports- before her body was found- said that the friend backed out at the last minute. But after her body was found it suddenly changed to months ahead of time. Who knows?

 

[belimom]

Could be something as simple as this was the time of year when she was out of school but the kids were still in it, therefore requiring less childcare adjustments.

Also, most tourist destinations (except ski resorts) are much quieter and less crowded during the winter months. I live in a major tourist destination (DC area), and all the locals know that now is when the city, monuments, museums, etc., really belong to us. Anytime between April-October, the crowds can be just too much. So perhaps she wanted to go when the places to photograph would be less crowded? :waitasec:

 

[tardislass]

Are the flights to Turkey cheaper during the "off season"? Is winter even considered "off season"? Better yet, is there such a thing as an off season in Turkey? I guess I shouldn't assume it's like taking a trip to Myrtle Beach or something.

Yes flights are cheaper and Istanbul has a few less tourists- mostly because the cruise ships are less frequent. But come March to December it's packed!

 

[CMac2]

This was something that I saw earlier that I just wanted to post. Everyone says that Sarai's friend backed out at the last minute. I haven't found a quote from her friend directly saying that, and we all wondered how you could plan a trip then back out at the last minute because of funds - that you would know what it costs up front and not at the last minute.

This article says her friend never planned on going and told Sarai "early on" that she could not afford to go. We still don't have a quote from the friend but it makes more sense. It also puts the whole trip under a different light --- instead of choosing to continue alone at the last minute, she knew well in advance and chose to go alone anyway.

Just a thought... if Sarai had her own (non-photography oriented) reasons for this trip, could she have talked her friend into saying she was going to go on the trip, knowing all along she wouldn't be? I could sell a girls trip to Turkey to my husband a lot easier than I could sell a solo trip to Turkey, I'm afraid. Like Sarai, I have 2 young children and sadly, despite my wildest fantasies, am on a budget as well.

Wondering if she could have had her friend act like it was in the cards for her to go along right up until the last minute. That way she could say, "Well, DH, as much as I WANTED this to be a girls' trip, it looks like so-and-so can't make it after all. Kind of sucks she found out at the last minute like this, after I've already booked my tickets and paid for my room. I hate it, but it looks like I'm going to have to go on without her. But don't worry! I'll be in touch each and every day."

(or something like it, anyway)

 

[ami]

I have latino relatives. You're correct, they tend to be possessive and get jealous easily. So I don't know why Sarai's husband would have permitted her wife of two young sons to wander off on a solo trip overseas for 3 weeks except for the fact that her female friend had said she was supposed to accompany Sarai on the fantasy trip.

According to early versions of the story, the friend had "at the last minute" backed out due to financial constraints. But recent news articles quote the female friend as saying that she had backed out several MONTHS ago.

Which version is correct? Last minute backing out or months ago?

If it's months ago, it would likely be before payment was made on finalizing the airline ticket for Sarai. So Sarai could have also backed out then and I would think her latino hubby would want her to do so for her own safety. If the friend canceled last minute, well, the money was already paid, and since Sarai's family aren't wealthy, her hubby would probably not have minded as much her decision to visit foreign country solo.

I really, really don't think we can generalize the motives of the Sierra family based on their ethnicity. From the "vibe" I can get from his interviews, he was proud of his wife. He and her brother, both latino men, bragged about her strength and independence (the triathlon story). This was not a repressed woman. Also she'd met up with several New York IGers for photo walks. Her husband seemed pretty 'in the know'. When her husband spoke of her Amsterdam connection, he said he'd been very helpful. I didn't get jealous angry man vibes from him at all from that, even knowing his wife hung out with him and spent the night on his couch.

This was something that I saw earlier that I just wanted to post. Everyone says that Sarai's friend backed out at the last minute. I haven't found a quote for her friend to say that, and we all wondered how you could plan a trip then back out at the last minute because of funds - that you would know what up front.

This article says her friend never planned on going and told Sarai "early on" that she could not afford to go. We still don't have a quote from the friend but it makes more sense. It also puts the whole trip under a different light --- instead of choosing to alone at the last minute, she knew well in advance and chose to go alone anyway.

I totally agree with this. I think the "last minute" statement was more a media device to imply that Sarai's life was *almost* saved by the presence of her friend. Just at the last minute, Sarai was doomed - that sort of message. The friend herself has been pretty open about it. I didn't hear her say 'last minute'. She may have, but I haven't heard it.