GUILTY Turkey - Sarai Sierra, 33, NY woman murdered, Istanbul, 21 Jan 2013 - #4

[Rolandred]

This makes sense, and I think we're on to something...

If not an acquaintance, could she have willingly entered someone's shop on the way to meet up with Taylan and then been talked into going that person's adjacent apartment to see something? Could she have been talking with a stranger and been too trusting and lured into that person's apartment?

Also, whether or not the killer was a stranger, perhaps the witness to the white car with the hand was right. The killer may have had a white car.

Yes! And information (such as the white car) has consistently been leaked and then denied. I'd say trusting someone from a shop and being lured could be.

Although the crime scene had so many different areas with forensic team investigating - I tend to think she was murdered there - thrown and then hidden....but maybe we will get some info soon to know!

 

[Yashim]

Wearing an earring in the right ear if male is said to signify you're gay, although I've heard it the other way around (left ear) too.

In Turkey, being gay would be more about sexual preferences. IMHO

 

[Yellow]

These comments about SS are mild compared to the multitude of comments about her following articles in NY newspapers. This is why it is so necessary that this crime be solved and hopefully Sarai's reputation "restored."

As it stands now, the children of SS and her religious parents have been left with a legacy of shame and embarrassment. Should people be more open minded, certainly. But the community in which they live is not one who sees all this as some great romance, no...quite the opposite.

If the stories are untrue, let us pray that this damage will be undone and these children can grow up proud of their Mother. As things stand now, they face a cruel situation.

The comments in NYC papers are atrocious. They call her every name in the book and act like she deserves no dignity at all. It is a shame that is happening, you can disagree w her choices but such words do no good and will only pain her family. Why give her family more pain?

 

[Herat]

The last CCTV sighting is heading away from the shop and market area, unless you walk quite a bit farther along Kennedy, correct?

I would think she would have been visible walking in the market area or farther along Kennedy.

I think she got into someone's car and

 

[NewYork625]

Very rare. The same rent (opportunity of foregone rent in case, they are the owners) will not be right for both types of uses in big cities. Either the house will be overpaid or the shop.

It's true for rural regions, though. And in poorer villages, the entrance floor is in fact used as a barn and they live above.

So what you're saying is that she goes to central Turkey and goes into a barn to milk some sheep and the farmer asks her to come up and attack her. Then brings her body to Istanbul?

Seems quite far-fetched to me.

Thank you for your reply, but I think we just had a serious translation problem! :floorlaugh: I meant a shop selling goods in the area she was walking that morning...not a farm in central Turkey. Here there are shop (stores) at street level, with apartments for rent above them. Sometimes the landlord who is the proprietor of the shop also has an apartment in the building.

 

[Herat]

The comments in NYC papers are atrocious. They call her every name in the book and act like she deserves no dignity at all. It is a shame that is happening, you can disagree w her choices but such words do no good and will only pain her family. Why give her family more pain?

Yes. There is a very public morality play being promoted by people hiding behind their internet annonymity.

 

[NewYork625]

In Turkey, being gay would be more about sexual preferences. IMHO

Being gay is also about sexual preferences here.

 

[Herat]

So what you're saying is that she goes to central Turkey and goes into a barn to milk some sheep and the farmer asks her to come up and attack her. Then brings her body to Istanbul?

Seems quite far-fetched to me.

Thanks, I needed that laugh:floorlaugh:

 

[NewYork625]

Maybe Sarai got lost that morning, and asked directions from the owner of the white car, who then offered her a ride? Maybe that person offered to show her something (his photos?) in his apartment, and she accepted?

 

[Yashim]

Thank you for your reply, but I think we just had a serious translation problem! :floorlaugh: I meant a shop selling goods...not a farm. Here there are shop (stores) at street level, with apartments for rent above them. Sometimes the landlord who is the proprietor of the shop also has an apartment in the building.

That's what I'm tellin' ya.

The city's expansion and land being a scarce resource decreased the number of such cases in Istanbul. If the shop is in a nice place, that means the owner pays a high rent, he may have a small profit margin, he would be giving up his profits just to be able to live above.

It happens, but now much rarely.

It's true for any type of business. Not everybody that works in Manhattan can also afford to live there? (I mean afford with their salary.) Can they?

 

[SandyP]

There was an interesting theory posted today online by a Silver Lake, Staten Island resident and picked up on twitter. This is that Sarai was kidnapped by the Turkish mob (Turkey is key focal point for worldwide female trafficking). Once her disappearance became so high profile they decided they just needed to get rid of her.

Have Turkish authorities stated how close they believe date of death is to day she was last seen alive?

 

[NewYork625]

There was an interesting theory posted today online by a Silver Lake, Staten Island resident and picked up on twitter. This is that Sarai was kidnapped by the Turkish mob (Turkey is key focal point for worldwide female trafficking). Once her disappearance became so high profile they decided they just needed to get rid of her.

Have Turkish authorities stated how close they believe date of death is to day she was last seen alive?

I believe they think she was murdered the day she disappeared. I would think that 33 is a little old for trafficking, but maybe she appeared younger?

 

[PippaCatherine]

If this murder took place in the US, Steve would be the number 1 suspect - cheating spouse apparently, marriage on rocks, etc... Women just about to possibly leave husband for good.... We see many cases like that in the US and there are many cases on WS w a similar scenario, 9 times out of 10 it is husband

But I do not think it is husband here, it is just too complicated to go hire a hit man in a country where you have no contacts, also, usually people meet in person w their hit man at some point to get money, etc. How would Steve had arranged to transfer the money? Furthermore how would you even find a hit man in a country you have no family or friends? Also you need to trust your hit man.

It is almost like you would have had to hire hit man in USA, have them travel to Turkey and do the job there, that scenario is more realistic I think. LE probably can look at immigration records to see if there are any suspicious solo male travelers from NYC

Steven appear too distraught to me, I do not think he is involved, he is also pretty welcoming to the media, which usually the husband is not so much. I think Steven is a victim here, and he has nothing to hide. I am sure FBI here is examining him and his contacts to rule out that theory,

Do we have facts that he has no friends or contacts in Turkey? I'm not stating that I think he is guilty, I merely suggested that it crossed my mind. I was commenting to the other poster who thought she'd be flamed for suggesting her thoughts. There is a lot with this crime MOO that don't make sense. However, just because we don't have answers or that it doesn't fit the "mold" doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. I'm open to a variety of possibilities.
You're also using perception of how he "appears" via media, and who is to say all isn't what it seems? Again, it has crossed my mind, yet I'm only stating that the other poster wasn't alone in her thoughts, KWIM.

 

[Yashim]

Yes! And information (such as the white car) has consistently been leaked and then denied. I'd say trusting someone from a shop and being lured could be.

Although the crime scene had so many different areas with forensic team investigating - I tend to think she was murdered there - thrown and then hidden....but maybe we will get some info soon to know!

If they had found her body sooner, and TOD was determined exactly, then we would be able create better scenarios.

But who can hide a body for a couples days, even one day? If it had been refrigerated and then taken out, forensics would have said so. Since that would certainly seeded up the decomposition. And made it much harder to keep it secret.

Body should have been there (or some place very near) the whole time.

 

[NewYork625]

Do we have facts that he has no friends or contacts in Turkey? I'm not stating that I think he is guilty, I merely suggested that it crossed my mind. I was commenting to the other poster who thought she'd be flamed for suggesting her thoughts. There is a lot with this crime MOO that don't make sense. However, just because we don't have answers or that it doesn't fit the "mold" doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. I'm open to a variety of possibilities.
You're also using perception of how he "appears" via media, and who is to say all isn't what it seems? Again, it has crossed my mind, yet I'm only stating that the other poster wasn't alone in her thoughts, KWIM.

This is going to sound terrible (at least it does to me because I don't truly believe that Steven was involved), but since anything is possible, I wonder if Sarai had life insurance? If she did, who took out the policy, and who was the beneficiary?

 

[SANDOVAL]

The last CCTV sighting is heading away from the shop and market area, unless you walk quite a bit farther along Kennedy, correct?

I would think she would have been visible walking in the market area or farther along Kennedy.

I think she got into someone's car and

''got into someone's car and....''
jumped out while it was moving.

 

[PippaCatherine]

This is going to sound terrible (at least it does to me because I don't truly believe that Steven was involved), but since anything is possible, I wonder if Sarai had life insurance? If she did, who took out the policy, and who was the beneficiary?

That's interesting. For the record, I don't think he is involved either.

 

[Yashim]

''got into someone's car and....''
jumped out while it was moving.

Somebody would have seen her.

 

[Yellow]

Do we have facts that he has no friends or contacts in Turkey? I'm not stating that I think he is guilty, I merely suggested that it crossed my mind. I was commenting to the other poster who thought she'd be flamed for suggesting her thoughts. There is a lot with this crime MOO that don't make sense. However, just because we don't have answers or that it doesn't fit the "mold" doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. I'm open to a variety of possibilities.
You're also using perception of how he "appears" via media, and who is to say all isn't what it seems? Again, it has crossed my mind, yet I'm only stating that the other poster wasn't alone in her thoughts, KWIM.

NY Times said they stayed w friends of friends of the brother in turkey so it does not appear they had connections, most people except if they are Turkish do not have friends in Turkey.

Of course if he had just hired a hit man to kill his wife, he would not want to broadcast it that he had Turkish connections bc he would want to hide it

We can only judge him on media appearances bc none of us know him. Sometimes the husbands, like Scott Peterson, look guilty on TV, they act too suave and like they do not even care. Steven is not acting like Peterson acted. Or even Drew Peterson- he did not act too upset either. There has been a bunch of cases where husband is not upset at all.

Of course sometimes appearances can be deceiving so just bc the husband acts distraught does not mean they are not guilty. We just have had so many cases where the husband does not even appear to care that the wife is dead and then they are found guilty of her murder...

 

[Yellow]

That's interesting. For the record, I don't think he is involved either.

Life insurance is usually through work so I would think there would not be much in her

That said, sometimes you have a friend or contact that is LI salesman and they rope you into buying a policy even though technically you do not need it

Unless it was that scenario, it would be odd if she had a big LI policy bc it would not be needed to replace lost income since she only worked part time if at all

Family could not afford funeral or bringing body back so I think that signals there was not big insuramce on her. Church and donations covered it but they were selling her photos to pay for funeral