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

[necco]

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:

But, if the person who killed her and the person who stole her stuff were different people, the scavenger may have left the driver's license with her body so she could be identified.

 

[belimom]

Why would any woman regret getting involved physically with a Turkish man? That doesn't make much sense, ie IMBYHO

Thanks for the laugh...

 

[ThinkHard]

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?

Interesting points. Though I'm pretty sure it was determined she was killed with a rock. I'm guessing this was the final and fatal blow. The rock being the murder weapon.

If these guys felt comfortable selling electronics that would have all sarais info on it, I'm also sure they would have felt fine about selling gold, or getting someone to do it for them. The gold would have had different marking, and a gold dealer would have noticed this, but I doubt sniffers would have considered that fact.

 

[bet2173]

Once I was in Izmir for a family emergency. They stole my wallet there. I had to go to the police. And the police started to ask the ordinary questions to me (he was a bit flirty by the way) in order to stop that, when he asked what my job is I said I was working for the media (half true) and started asking questions about the crime rates in Izmir. He got very serious all of a sudden. Anyway, an hour later the station called me and said my wallet was found! There is an exclamation mark there because that is such a rare thing to happen.
We know not for fact but it's known that some of the cops are involved in the muggings.

 

[Meri]

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.

This is my understanding - once reset, you are not traceable anymore.

 

[lavy]

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?

That reminds me all the latest reports mentioning the blanket was wrapped around her instead of 1 meter away. Has anyone else seen that?

Edit: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/07/istanbul-hunts-for-sarai-sierra-s-killer.html

 

[ThinkHard]

Because Taylan has a very possesive wife?

Again what if taylans wife found out about her philandering husband and her daddy happens to be a mob boss?

 

[ThinkHard]

Yashim, because she was married. And because not everyone can handle the love of a good Turk.

(I assume you were joking.)

What necco you don't want bathroom sex?

 

[citizenofworld]

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:

It would be very Turkish mentality, doing something terrible, but feeling remorse for the deed/sorry for the affected.

Re: the iPad, I don't have one, but know lots of people who do. They tell me that unless it's using a GSM network, it can't be located.

The chances of her paying for GSM roaming aren't likely as it'd be SO expensive for data. She didn't post many photos, so my guess is that she did so when she could get free Wi-Fi.

Didn't she have a Samsung Galaxy and not an iPhone? It's been turned on twice since she disappeared, the last time was last Thurs...

My last question is for the Turks or people in Turkey: how do police officials usually deal with high-profile homicide cases - do they try to pretend they don't know what's going on to catch the murderer? Do they release much or accurate info?

 

[bet2173]

Interesting points. Though I'm pretty sure it was determined she was killed with a rock. I'm guessing this was the final and fatal blow. The rock being the murder weapon.

If these guys felt comfortable selling electronics that would have all sarais info on it, I'm also sure they would have felt fine about selling gold, or getting someone to do it for them. The gold would have had different marking, and a gold dealer would have noticed this, but I doubt sniffers would have considered that fact.

But her jewelry was not gold right? I'm sorry I'm starting forget everything now.

 

[necco]

What necco you don't want bathroom sex?

No, but it was nice of you to offer. :floorlaugh:

 

[NewYork625]

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.

Some Amsterdam to Istanbul flights have a stopover in Munich. Maybe that is why she was there for half a day?

 

[NewYork625]

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.

I looked on Expedia and there is a flight available from Amsterdam to Istanbul with a 9 hour & 35 minute layover in Munich. It's several hundreds of dollars less expensive than the non-stop flights.

 

[bet2173]

Didn't she have a Samsung Galaxy and not an iPhone? It's been turned on twice since she disappeared, the last time was last Thurs...

My last question is for the Turks or people in Turkey: how do police officials usually deal with high-profile homicide cases - do they try to pretend they don't know what's going on to catch the murderer? Do they release much or accurate info?

Yes, she had a Samsung Galaxy and also an i-pad.

Last year, or a year before that there was a high-profile homicide. A well-educated guy killed his gf, cut her into pieces and they found the body in the waste. It was a huge subject for the press. They found the murderer, but I think he escaped abroad in the mean time. I don't remember what happened afterwards.

But the real question is if SS was not American, or was American but the story was not this much out of control would they bother to investigate this much? NO. Two nights ago one of the feminist lawyers was on TV here and she said 5 women are killed here (not in Istanbul, she meant Turkey) every single day because of a jealous husband, or an ex-husband or even by her father for "namus" issues (chastity). They may or may not be caught. The laws are fine she said it's what the imposing of sanctions that suck here. They get in the prison for a year and get out because of a remission.

 

[bet2173]

I looked on Expedia and there is a flight available from Amsterdam to Istanbul with a 9 hour & 35 minute layover in Munich. It's several hundreds of dollars less expensive than the non-stop flights.

I know a lot of people preferring that flight.

 

[necco]

To the Turks/ex-pats with Turkish living experience among us,
I know in some cultures, no one but the worst sociopath would steal a wedding ring. Do you think that if your average junkie or homeless person came across a body and stole items from it, would they often not dare to take a wedding ring? What about a religious symbol (if her necklace was a cross or some such) ?

 

[NewYork625]

I haven't been able to keep up with all of the posts, so I apologize if I missed something, but is it possible Taylan/Tarkan would admit to having consensual sex with SS in case his semen or DNA was found on her? If he had raped her and then murdered her (I'm not saying he did), wouldn't that provide a plausible explanation/excuse?
Was the bathroom sex story just a rumor?

 

[Yashim]

No, but it was nice of you to offer. :floorlaugh:

Bathroom sex in a trashy Beyoglu bar can provide many opportunities, from rabies via rodent bites to scabies. One wouldn't limit oneself with STDs.

 

[lavy]

My last question is for the Turks or people in Turkey: how do police officials usually deal with high-profile homicide cases - do they try to pretend they don't know what's going on to catch the murderer? Do they release much or accurate info?

I don't know this very well. I know that police is not supposed to speak to the press, in some rare cases the head of the police does a news conference.

For example in the murder bet2173 explained the lawyers were talking to public to give the updates. Like Taylan's lawyer did today.

 

[Yashim]

To the Turks/ex-pats with Turkish living experience among us,
I know in some cultures, no one but the worst sociopath would steal a wedding ring. Do you think that if your average junkie or homeless person came across a body and stole items from it, would they often not dare to take a wedding ring? What about a religious symbol (if her necklace was a cross or some such) ?

I don't know. I know that someone my mother knew had a traffic accident and died at the spot. She should be over 60 at the time. Her earrings were thorn from her ears.

OT but I just read some unemployed guy pushed his 9-months old wife off the balcony of their 2nd floor apartment. And Yesterday, the wife of the Consul and Head of Chancery of Switzerland in Istanbul ran over a married couple riding on a motor bike with her SUV and fleed the scene. People are capable of anything.