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

[tardislass]

Because Taylan has a very possesive wife?

Meh-I don't think he's married. Girlfriend perhaps...

 

[tardislass]

What you said about the jewelry made me wonder about the electronics. Forgive me if this is a ridiculous question (I'm an Android girl- no Apple experience whatsoever), but do iPad users have to register their devices? I mean if you have an iPad and I decide to steal it, once I do a factory reset, can I use it freely without fear of anyone finding out I have it? Or is there a registration process involving, say, a serial number that would make that risky on my part? If it is impossible to trace the devices back to whoever stole them, you might be on to something. If they can be traced somehow, I'd say the only reason they were stolen was to destroy the devices and delete incriminating data.

Did we ever determine that the story about her Iphone being turned on Jan. 29th was false?

 

[lavy]

The airlines must have that info. And also do we know if she travelled to Munich by herself or with someone? And do we have an exact date on her departure from the States?

Yes, airlines and the police must have it. Sadly not us.

We know that she left on 7th and arrived on the 8th.

I never understood the Munich trip. Nothing released about it and she only went there for half a day?

Again personal experience but almost always return tickets are cheaper. So a return ticket to Amsterdam must be a lot cheaper than Amsterdam-Munich-Istanbul.

 

[bet2173]

I'm starting to think it's a gang of glue sniffers or poor teenagers with too much time on their hands. Even one man bigger than Sarai (with a pipe, or piece of wood).

They didn't take the jewelry - maybe too embarrassed in case a metal dealer in the grand bazaar would ask them where they got it if they are poor fellows?

I think there'd be an easy and quick market for the cell phone & iPad since electronics are so expensive in Turkey. (They say her purse was taken, but her i.d. was with the body - that means someone felt guilty, and wanted people to know who she was when they found her).

Muggings are on the rise in Turkey; I know a very big man who recently had a knife put to his throat outside a grocery store in Osmaniye (they left him). The man took his wallet and watch...another big man I know was walking through a big park near Nisantasi while still light out and a homeless man was about to pull a knife on him until he turned around. Heard of a near mugging of a foreign girl in broad daylight in a poor neighborhood in Istanbul.

So what if tough Staten Islander Sarai put up a fight or started screaming?

I think Istanbul is just suffering from the crime that comes along from being a much bigger city than it was 30, 20, even 10 years ago...thoughts?

Muggins were much higher like 5 0r 10 years ago. There was a lot, it happened so much that a friend, a family member had a muggins story. I do not hear it that much anymore. But the crime is increasing definitely, even though the city governor came out all of a sudden just after ss's death to declare that istanbul is one of the safest cities in the world, basing it on almost nothing.

 

[Yashim]

I'm starting to think it's a gang of glue sniffers or poor teenagers with too much time on their hands. Even one man bigger than Sarai (with a pipe, or piece of wood).

They didn't take the jewelry - maybe too embarrassed in case a metal dealer in the grand bazaar would ask them where they got it if they are poor fellows?

I think there'd be an easy and quick market for the cell phone & iPad since electronics are so expensive in Turkey. (They say her purse was taken, but her i.d. was with the body - that means someone felt guilty, and wanted people to know who she was when they found her).

Muggings are on the rise in Turkey; I know a very big man who recently had a knife put to his throat outside a grocery store in Osmaniye (they left him). The man took his wallet and watch...another big man I know was walking through a big park near Nisantasi while still light out and a homeless man was about to pull a knife on him until he turned around. Heard of a near mugging of a foreign girl in broad daylight in a poor neighborhood in Istanbul.

So what if tough Staten Islander Sarai put up a fight or started screaming?

I think Istanbul is just suffering from the crime that comes along from being a much bigger city than it was 30, 20, even 10 years ago...thoughts?

Yes, but some crimes are easily preventable.At least I think this was. And that thought is just killing me.

 

[ThinkHard]

Yeah that was not the markings of a mafia hit. Too sloppy, too much evidence.

And really, I don't think Taylan has anything to do with her death, as much as I'd like to have been right. He may be a rich douchebag(overseas studies, lawyer), but if the police don't have any evidence on him(and unless he's a spy or a high political figure-I would have expected the FBI to say something in a cover-up).

And as far as photographing something she should/top-secret buildings, I doubt the Turkish government would be so inept as to kill her(being an American) in so sloppy a fashion.

However, it's interesting that the police haven't said if she had a wallet or money. We've heard about the iPhone/iPad being stolen but what about her purse? I'm sure her husband or someone would know what kind of wallet she uses.

Well if it was a mafia killing, and they didn't want it to LOOK like a mafia killing....perhaps staging it was a better option. That way the focus would be on a poor homeless druggie. If it LOOKED like a mafia hit, then they would be looking for the mafia.

Just some food for thought.

 

[tardislass]

Muggins were much higher like 5 0r 10 years ago. There was a lot, it happened so much that a friend, a family member had a muggins story. I do not hear it that much anymore. But the crime is increasing definitely, even though the city governor came out all of a sudden just after ss's death to declare that istanbul is one of the safest cities in the world, basing it on almost nothing.

Basing it on the fact that tourism could suffer if he didn't say that....

 

[bet2173]

Meh-I don't think he's married. Girlfriend perhaps...

The lawyer said he has a family. I know it could be the parents but it could be the wife and kids

 

[Yashim]

Did we ever determine that the story about her Iphone being turned on Jan. 29th was false?

No, it was never falsified. I believe it's true and LE got a lead, but just need some complementary info to make some sense out of it.

 

[CMac2]

Did we ever determine that the story about her Iphone being turned on Jan. 29th was false?

Don't think so. It was stated early on as fact- by LE. They were speaking on it before they ever found SS, because they initially saw it as a reason to believe she was still alive. It was never mentioned as false... but once her body was found, the topic itself seemed to fall by the wayside.

 

[CMac2]

The lawyer said he has a family. I know it could be the parents but it could be the wife and kids

In my experience (at least here in the states- clearly have no clue with regards to Turkey) when someone over the age of 25 is said to "have a family", it generally means spouse and kids.

 

[Meri]

If memory serves, when they first found her body, they said it appeared she'd been dead at least a week (this was about 10 days, I believe, after she went missing). Later, as the investigation progressed, they determined that she had died the day she vanished, either where she was found or very, very close (within feet) to it. Hope that helps.

It does help, thanks very much!

 

[bet2173]

What you said about the jewelry made me wonder about the electronics. Forgive me if this is a ridiculous question (I'm an Android girl- no Apple experience whatsoever), but do iPad users have to register their devices? I mean if you have an iPad and I decide to steal it, once I do a factory reset, can I use it freely without fear of anyone finding out I have it? Or is there a registration process involving, say, a serial number that would make that risky on my part? If it is impossible to trace the devices back to whoever stole them, you might be on to something. If they can be traced somehow, I'd say the only reason they were stolen was to destroy the devices and delete incriminating data.

I asked the same question last night because I know that there is a tracking device to trace the iphones and ipads, but someone said it must be destroyed by now.

 

[Rolandred]

Great points. I believe it was ThinkHard who said you can fly round trip to Turkey this time of year for $393.00, and someone else (maybe the same person) said the Hostel wouldn't have cost more than $100-$200 total. In addition, there's spending money, food and the trip to Amsterdam and Munich to factor in. I think compared to some vacations, this one falls on the less expensive side of average, but for a family who is already on a tight budget, she'd have to save probably at least a thousand bucks in two months' time.

I also know she was a college student. I know it's not totally kosher, but I've known students who receive financial aid checks above and beyond the total cost of tuition. They put those checks to use on other things- vacations, other financial obligations, that sort of thing. Maybe she paid for part of the trip that way?

As for getting the time off from work, that would be another challenge. I work in Human Resources and can tell you that generally speaking, employees that are hourly and part-time are not give standard vacation time. That doesn't mean they can't take a day off- it just means that any time taken off work would be taken without pay. Being a new employee, I'm surprised she was able to convince her boss to give her the time off, but sometimes employees will negotiate that sort of thing prior to their start date. In other words, they'll take the job offer, but will say, "I have a trip planned to Turkey in January. I'll be gone three weeks, is that ok?"

OR- maybe she got this job for this specific reason, and was putting her entire paycheck aside for the trip. If she did it that way, she could probably save up enough money within 2-3 months, I'd imagine.

A really good point about being able to take time off - 3 weeks from a part time job? - that's a luxury even with a full time job (in USA) -and if they needed the money - really odd.

There are SO many things that do not add up about this case - from the LE declarations to the information being released - the "dream vacation" for exploring Istanbul and her photo hobby - with only a smart phone? - to the characters she met up with or didn't or did or wanted to but couldn't - the FBI doubts, the media stories changing facts daily. Taylan and SS were intimate in bar - no- they only had coffee together. I could go on and on! All I know, judging by the photos and videos of the crime scene and the CCTV recordings, is that something awful and sinister happened and I think this case goes way deeper than those who know the truth want to admit - but....here we are...waiting for the next fact to be debunked and trying to uncover the truth.

It's a fascinating and intriguing mystery - and subsequent tragedy - but I 'm afraid this may end up another Natalie Holloway type story the way things are so far going.

 

[ThinkHard]

Very interesting. I always assumed she had her wallet as she had the driving licence, I carry it in my purse. And assumed it was not there as the bag is not there. See I am even conflicting with myself.:waitasec:

It's weird though if her wallet wasnt there, which we don't know for sure, how come they would have taken her drivers license out of her wallet and just left that? Did they want her to be identified?

 

[Yashim]

Just curious about Turkish law- If someone is eventually arrested is the trial same as in the US.


Is there a jury, a judge and lawyers for both sides in court cases. I know some countries have more than one judge presiding.

No juries. I think someone already told that. But unlike in the US, in Turkey in criminal cases, the judge runs the show. The defendants' attorneys aren't as active as their US counterparts.

 

[bet2173]

In my experience (at least here in the states- clearly have no clue with regards to Turkey) when someone over the age of 25 is said to "have a family", it generally means spouse and kids.

Here it's not as clear as that, that's why I'm not so sure what the lawyer meant by that. Maybe he wanted emphasize that Tarkan's parents are old and very affected by all the accusations and speculations made on behalf of him. I have no clue.

 

[bet2173]

It's weird though if her wallet wasnt there, which we don't know for sure, how come they would have taken her drivers license out of her wallet and just left that? Did they want her to be identified?

Let's dont forget that her body was found just after her story got out of control in the media. Maybe, yes, they wanted her to be identified

 

[CMac2]

It's weird though if her wallet wasnt there, which we don't know for sure, how come they would have taken her drivers license out of her wallet and just left that? Did they want her to be identified?

Maybe the killer had some twisted sense of remorse, and didn't want her unidentified for long.

On 2nd thought, that's ridiculous. Ugh. :banghead:

 

[CMac2]

Let's dont forget that her body was found just after her story got out of control in the media. Maybe, yes, they wanted her to be identified

True. Maybe because they didn't know how long it would take for someone to find her- and she could have been (yuck- sorry) decomposing by the time it happened. But where, exactly, was the license found? In her pocket? But then she didn't have pants on. So was it just laying on her? Near her?