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

[CMac2]

We don't get donuts.
We're Turkish.
His halva recipe is awesome though.

Donuts should totally be universal. I just had some this morning, in fact. They were from a vending machine, but still. Delightful.

 

[CMac2]

That's the recommendation of US authorities....however from personal experience (talk about an oh vey story...) that the Turkish authorities prefer that you are in possession of your passport at all times.

I carried mine everywhere I went. I remember being in Prague at some hotel, and after I checked in I either realized the phone in my room was missing, or wasn't working (this was years ago- can't quite remember, exactly). Clearly not a 5 star joint! So I went to the front desk and told them to fix my phone. The guy told me he doesn't allow phone access to foreigners because they don't pay their phone bills. I asked him how he proposed I call anyone in case of an emergency? He told me he'd give me phone access in exchange for my passport. I declined.

That's all I needed- being stuck in the mid-90s in the Czech Republic with no passport. I'm too pretty to go to jail in the Czech Republic.

 

[necco]

I have it in my head since I first heard it in 1990.

Are you suggesting the murder took place in Constantinople and not in Istanbul? Because that changes everything.

If you've a suspect in Constantinople, he'll be waiting in Istanbul!

 

[lavy]

Donuts should totally be universal. I just had some this morning, in fact. They were from a vending machine, but still. Delightful.

Donuts from a vending machine!? This is the only culture shock I had since started writing here

 

[Yellow]

I don't see it as that black and white.

It is hard to say what anyone would do in his situation without being in his situation. Did he make the smartest decisions? No. Would I have done things differently? God, I hope so. I like to think I would. But then again, I've never been a Turkish national who was the last known person to see an American national who is now missing (and let's face it, by the time this went down, most of us knew she was dead) and being wanted for questioning by the FBI, the American consulate and the Turkish police.

He might also not have known she was married. If someone's husband emailed you looking for his wife, even if said husband was thousands of miles away, you might not be that welcoming...then when he found out the husband was coming to Istanbul he might have thought the husband would find out about the affair

His evasiveness might be him being afraid of the situation. If police cleared him, and we take DNA at its word (assuming initial tests are correct) then he is not the guy..

 

[bellyup]

I can understand his actions intellectually without attributing any valor to them.

Covering your a** because you're embarrassed about an affair and/or nervous because you were the last one to see someone alive doesn't win you many points in my book. He would have come out looking a million times better by coming forward immediately and helping in the search. Instead, he hid until the FBI spent who knows how many hours and how much money ferreting him out.

Ugly.

Are we sure of this? :floorlaugh:
Because although his internet accounts were changed / removed, the rest is just speculation ? He may have been in contact with LE. They are protecting him pretty well. Meeting him in undisclosed locations, not giving his name, etc.

AND if I was suddenly at the center of a storm such as this one, I'd make my presence on the internet pretty scarce too. If innocent, having your name drug through the mud would totally suck.

 

[necco]

I carried mine everywhere I went. I remember being in Prague at some hotel, and after I checked in I either realized the phone in my room was missing, or wasn't working (this was years ago- can't quite remember, exactly). Clearly not a 5 star joint! So I went to the front desk and told them to fix my phone. The guy told me he doesn't allow phone access to foreigners because they don't pay their phone bills. I asked him how he proposed I call anyone in case of an emergency? He told me he'd give me phone access in exchange for my passport. I declined.

That's all I needed- being stuck in the mid-90s in the Czech Republic with no passport. I'm too pretty to go to jail in the Czech Republic.

Ah, Prague. The only place thusfar where I have been successfully pickpocketed. In a church. (It has been attempted elsewhere, but I caught them.)

 

[ThinkHard]

We can't do it here in Istanbul. But one of you in the US could call the LE and say that you will tell them the name of the perp if they release all the info they've collected. Then we'll have more to work with.

Can you do it, ThinkHard? You speak Turkish.

Or I could go down there to collect my own evidence?

Haha I'm in it.

 

[CMac2]

Are we sure of this? :floorlaugh:
AND if I was suddenly at the center of a storm such as this one, I'd make my presence on the internet pretty scarce too. If innocent, having your name drug through the mud would totally suck.

Well sure, you'd stop posting in public forums, but would you delete your e-mail account? Unless Rupert Murdock is still running the show, there's no need to worry the press or LE will be getting its hands on your private e-mail correspondence.

 

[ToutCa]

He might also not have known she was married. If someone's husband emailed you looking for his wife, even if said husband was thousands of miles away, you might not be that welcoming...then when he found out the husband was coming to Istanbul he might have thought the husband would find out about the affair

His evasiveness might be him being afraid of the situation. If police cleared him, and we take DNA at its word (assuming initial tests are correct) then he is not the guy..

I don't think he's guilty any more (unless the DNA reports are false), but there's a difference between feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed -- and being a total coward.

Man up. A person is missing and presumed dead. You were last to see her.

We all know what the right thing to do was. I'm not saying it was easy to do, just that Taylan is not a nice guy to hide under his bed when things got scary.

 

[CMac2]

Ah, Prague. The only place thusfar where I have been successfully pickpocketed. In a church. (It has been attempted elsewhere, but I caught them.)

It's beautiful... but uh... seems to have a bit of an edge to it.

 

[ThinkHard]

OK, since we've fully admitted we're getting slap-happy, I have a question...

Am I the only one who has had the song Istanbul (not Constantinople) stuck in their head for like two weeks now?

No! Because everytime someone finds out I lived in Istanbul they start singing that song and I want to slap them!

Not you though necco don't worry.

 

[ToutCa]

Are we sure of this? :floorlaugh:
Because although his internet accounts were changed / removed, the rest is just speculation ? He may have been in contact with LE. They are protecting him pretty well. Meeting him in undisclosed locations, not giving his name, etc.

AND if I was suddenly at the center of a storm such as this one, I'd make my presence on the internet pretty scarce too. If innocent, having your name drug through the mud would totally suck.

We ARE sure of this.

He did not come forward.

There were appeals for days after SS disappeared. It was widely reported that the FBI tracked down his name and address and forwarded them to Turkish LE. It was at that time that they contacted him and he agreed to come for questioning. It's all on record.

 

[Yashim]

Are we sure of this? :floorlaugh:
Because although his internet accounts were changed / removed, the rest is just speculation ? He may have been in contact with LE. They are protecting him pretty well. Meeting him in undisclosed locations, not giving his name, etc.

AND if I was suddenly at the center of a storm such as this one, I'd make my presence on the internet pretty scarce too. If innocent, having your name drug through the mud would totally suck.

One insider feedback for you. I hardly recall LE being discrete with any detainee in any case that hit the news in Turkey. Unless they are informants. There has to be something we're missing. It can't be just that he is rich. That's why I thought at the beginning he feared for his life.

 

[bellyup]

Well sure, you'd stop posting in public forums, but would you delete your e-mail account? Unless Rupert Murdock is still running the show, there's no need to worry the press or LE will be getting its hands on your private e-mail correspondence.

If I thought I was going to get nailed for murder? Heck yeah. Everything would be gone. *poof* In fact, if I ever become the center of a missing woman / murder case ... I might just smash my computer to smithereens. I'm a websleuther. Do you know the stuff I've googled ??
:what::floorlaugh::what:

 

[ToutCa]

Ah, Prague. The only place thusfar where I have been successfully pickpocketed. In a church. (It has been attempted elsewhere, but I caught them.)

I've never been successfully pick-pocketed but did catch a guy trying one time in a night club district in Paris. I wheeled around and his hand was in my backpack (in a pocket I knew had nothing in it). He turned red, whipped it out, and ran off. I was too amazed/amused to say/do anything!

 

[ThinkHard]

OMG. YES!! I was humming it in the shower this morning. And honestly, the song is NOT THAT GREAT to warrant being stuck in one's head for weeks. I need a new theme.

Once, early this week, I started gobbling for the sheer joy of it because the word Turkey just wouldn't leave my mind.

I need professional help, I'm afraid.

Since we have nothing else to talk about right now...did you know the word for turkey the bird in Turkish is hindi

A couple other ones I think are cute

elephant is "fil" so now I think all elephants should be names Phil

Monkey is maymun (pronounce my moon)

 

[ThinkHard]

We don't get donuts.
We're Turkish.
His halva recipe is awesome though.

Simit stand then?

 

[WhitneyLea]

That's the recommendation of US authorities....however from personal experience (talk about an oh vey story...) that the Turkish authorities prefer that you are in possession of your passport at all times.

The do-you-or-don't-you carry your passport while traveling abroad decision can be tricky. When I was younger, I usually carried mine with me. I don't have a great explanation why, it just felt safer to have it ON me physically than to leave it in a strange hotel, especially when my hotel room didn't have a safe. BUT, in retrospect, I really wish I had followed the US authorities' advice! I had my purse stolen (with my passport in it) when I was on a weekend trip to Paris from London during college, and getting back out of France kind of turned into a nightmare with no money or ID. I had to fight to file a police report, convince the post office to let me collect money that my parents wired me, and then had to stay for an extra night alone while my friends went back to London (consulate wasn't open on the weekends). Thankfully, I was able to get an emergency passport the next day at the consulate with the help of a wonderful employee who happened to be from my home state in the US. But, the moral of that story is, I NEVER carry my passport on me when I travel anymore! It always stays safely in my hotel, apart from any other ID.

Possibly the strangest part of that whole story, is that several months later when I was back in the US, I got a letter from the French police telling me they had found my purse, with my wallet and passport still inside!! (No money or camera though.) It wasn't valid anymore, but I did finally get it back.

 

[CMac2]

If I thought I was going to get nailed for murder? Heck yeah. Everything would be gone. *poof* In fact, if I ever become the center of a missing woman / murder case ... I might just smash my computer to smithereens. I'm a websleuther. Do you know the stuff I've googled ??
:what::floorlaugh::what:

As a fellow Websleuther- why would you have assumed you'd be framed for murder in the beginning? She was missing for two weeks. At that point, my concern for my missing friend would override everything else.

However, now that I know you'd smash your stuff to smitherings, I must make a request:

If I ever go missing, it is quite likely that one of you people here at Websleuths will have been the last to have had communication with me (because I don't have that exciting a life- although I am determined to go out tonight, so don't judge me!). Please just google me and try to find me. Do not smash your personal belongings! Help! :floorlaugh: