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

[necco]

As Lavy said, if you run, you'll only get as far as the security post, and your only chance of going to the Asian side will be if they decide to interrogate you there.

If you're in a car and you cross to the Asian side during rush hour, I highly doubt you'll have the motivation to cross back to the European side on the same day.

Well, y'all work on this ok? It may be a year or 4 until I get to Turkey. I fully expect you guys to have fixed this so I can scamper freely across the bridge when I get there.

 

[zarra30]

Yes, but I really think Turkey wants to increase US tourism. I recall going to the NY travel show and they had a big booth, much bigger than other countries, they also have commercials sometimes. I think they really want to get more...ams i get the impression in Turkey too that they really want you to tell your friends how nice Turkey is and for them to come too....and this does not help them if it is in the media that a tourist got killed there in broad daylight by a ransom person, especially given the fact that media portrayals of Turkey aren't all that great to begin with. Of course it could stir tourism among people who get interested In the case and learn more about the country. But for some Americans, their only recollection will be, oh, isn't that the country where the tourist got killed and there are all those bombings (even if there is only 1 or 2 random operatives)? Bc that is often what we hear about in the news for turkey. Turkey is not in the headlines everyday.

Of course, it happens here all the time, tourist gets killed, etc while visiting US. But it may not have the same effect in home country bc it is not the only image the media portrays...

Yellow, I know what you mean, but those Xenophobic people will always focus on the one bad thing and believe many towns outside their border are fraught with danger. The attention in this case made some people break out of the bubble and realize that Istanbul is not third world, nor is it inside Afghanistan.

I don't think it will hurt Turkish tourism. For one missing American, there was a huge public outpouring of sympathy from Turkish citizens and an immediate police search, and all those locals who carried missing posters with her picture. Makes tourists feel more protected. We Americans trust countries with a strong police force and/or great beaches.

We see waves of senseless violence in our city neighborhoods everyday and sad to say, I'm sure a lot of foreigners can't erase America as the country where some guy walked into a schoolhouse and unconscionably massacred 20 innocent little kids, 7 teachers and his own mom.

Many who followed this board and who googled stuff got the opportunity to see other cities through Sarai's photography and to replace their visions of Billy Hayes's brutal and Liam Neesen's dark Istanbul imagery with Turkish people who were intelligent, funny, kind, hip, non threatening and fluent in English. And deeply compassionate.
They wished they'd saved her.

And it's still not solved......!

 

[bet2173]

Yes, but frankly I didn't think he'd be a trashman. Because, as you may know, they you usually go around pushing their trolleys carrying the huge nylon/canvas bag where they keep waste paper, cardboards, etc. Not quite likely that he'd be able to push the trolley up or down that hill, or over the walls.

In one of the papers it said he was a homeless living around the walls. Personally, I'm not buying this story (Ziya being the murderer) at all. Maybe he took part in helping the murderer but somehow I do not want to believe he is the murderer himself.

I think he got scared like Taylan/ Tarkan when the story got out of control and went to Karabuk.

 

[alpmighty]

It's exactly as what you say. Although, I have to say some of the arguments that are there has merits. But this doesn't justify exploitation of SS.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

 

[necco]

Canan Gullu, the chair of the Federation of Women’s Associations in Turkey, wrote an open letter addressing Sierra: “You were born in a free country,” Gullu wrote. “You thought that this is a similar country to yours, and that you can go around and stay as you wish. But you died because of your presumption. We face violence every day. We’re being pushed around every day. Here it’s difficult to go out on the street, to attend celebrations on New Year’s Eve, or wear a skirt with a split. You just did not know about all this.”

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ori...ociety-sarai-sierra-murder.html#ixzz2KqwRrULA

In all honesty, I don't find the article to be exploitative. In fact, I find it to be quite respectful of Ms. Sierra. I think the organization seized upon a teachable moment and used it. Their aim is to save women from violence and to change the paradigms they see in Turkey. Were I in Sarai's shoes, I'd be proud if my death saved even one other woman.

 

[zarra30]

It's exactly as what you say. Although, I have to say some of the arguments that are there has merits. But this doesn't justify exploitation of SS.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

Agreed. Nothing justifies that.
People look for reasons to assess blame in an effort to reassure themselves that bad things can't and won't happen to them. And the press feeds on it.
And a lot of innocent people get damaged.

 

[Yellow]

Could it be Z happened upon the murder? Maybe someone else mirdered her, he walked by, saw it, and didn't do anything to help.... figures nicely dressed murdere will blame on him


It seems blanket may be connection w him. I assume it will have his DNA on it. Still not enough to connect him to murder bc blanket could have been left on ground,

Unless there is semen DNA, might be very hard to prove attempted rape and mirder bc evidence could be consistent w just a mugging...

But whether jury believes she was mugged by one person, then before or after killed is another story. If fingernail then he would have to mug her before death and what is chance both in same day?

 

[Elley Mae]

I am not falling for the homeless guy story.

 

[SANDOVAL]

Hmm no one has anything to say? Truth be told, this random homeless guy scenario does not inspire the imagination as much as some of the other theories.

I'd like to focus on photography since as a photographer that is how I got so interested in this case. And it seems now that it was probably photography rather than her marriage situation or some of her poor travel decisions that led to her demise.

Has anyone seen anything from an official source that suggests Sarai used the iPad to take pictures? Some posters here have suggested it but I don't think there is any evidence. If she didn't use it to photograph, why would she have carried it, I wonder. We assume she had it with her.

I don't use Skype but I am curious - would it work on a phone (either her US Samsung or the Tutkish one) or did she need the iPad? Assuming she was not paying for a Turkish cellular plan for the iPad, given her tight finances, she would have had to wait until she had wifi access in a cafe or somewhere, correct?

If homeless guy scenario turns out to be correct, I picture Sarai immersed in her photography, possibly also with earbuds, not paying as much attention to her surroundings as she should have. In one article that quoted one of her Instagram friends from the "made in ny" group (sorry no link. I saw this like almost a week ago) the guy said Sarai was fearless, jumping down onto the railroad tracks "good thing there was no train coming." Anything to get the shot she wanted. This attitude is probably what got her killed.

I thought i read 'she took pictures with her ipad' in the food court surveillance shots.
(But I personally could hardly see what on earth she was actually doing.....seemed like pulling long strings or cords, not once but repeatedly,maybe wires kept tangling?)

 

[SANDOVAL]

I need to go now. Hopefully someone else will do the translation.

The summary is that police is looking for 27 people. There were 34 people who usually hang around in the walls who have been disappeared since the murder. 7 of them is found and determined to have no connections to the murder.

Z identified as "Laz Ziya" and apparently he used to use that blanket.

I thought it was reported that they had 'rounded up' and relocated the homeless people from that area, and some were wondering to where they had been removed? Don't they know what happened to 27people??

 

[MrsTigglesworth]

Hello folks! I have been following along and have definite respect for all the diverse and educated discussions. I have learned a lot, for sure

One thing to note that I may have missed, in regards to her photos and the iPad vs. phone, is that I do not think the Instagram app is available for iPad. At least not on mine. There are viewers, sure, but her Ingram pics were probably taken on the phone only and she may have been using the iPad for the Internet connection and larger viewing/editing of them.

Not sure if that helps any, but thought I would throw it out there. Nice to meet you all! (And sorry if that point has already been tackled)

 

[bourne]

Maybe a substantial portion of the US population, but they are ignorant. Only something like 20% of Americans even have passports. We are on the whole woefully ignorant about international travel, or anything international.

"Times have changed. “More Americans have passports now than ever before,” says Ken Chavez, spokesperson for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the US State Department. Over one-third of the population to be exact, or nearly 110 million out of 313 million Americans."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2012/01/30/record-number-of-americans-now-hold-passports/

 

[NewYork625]

Hmm no one has anything to say? Truth be told, this random homeless guy scenario does not inspire the imagination as much as some of the other theories.

I'd like to focus on photography since as a photographer that is how I got so interested in this case. And it seems now that it was probably photography rather than her marriage situation or some of her poor travel decisions that led to her demise.

Has anyone seen anything from an official source that suggests Sarai used the iPad to take pictures? Some posters here have suggested it but I don't think there is any evidence. If she didn't use it to photograph, why would she have carried it, I wonder. We assume she had it with her.

I don't use Skype but I am curious - would it work on a phone (either her US Samsung or the Tutkish one) or did she need the iPad? Assuming she was not paying for a Turkish cellular plan for the iPad, given her tight finances, she would have had to wait until she had wifi access in a cafe or somewhere, correct?

If homeless guy scenario turns out to be correct, I picture Sarai immersed in her photography, possibly also with earbuds, not paying as much attention to her surroundings as she should have. In one article that quoted one of her Instagram friends from the "made in ny" group (sorry no link. I saw this like almost a week ago) the guy said Sarai was fearless, jumping down onto the railroad tracks "good thing there was no train coming." Anything to get the shot she wanted. This attitude is probably what got her killed.

I read that she used the ipad to edit her photos.

 

[bourne]

Hello folks! I have been following along and have definite respect for all the diverse and educated discussions. I have learned a lot, for sure

One thing to note that I may have missed, in regards to her photos and the iPad vs. phone, is that I do not think the Instagram app is available for iPad. At least not on mine. There are viewers, sure, but her Ingram pics were probably taken on the phone only and she may have been using the iPad for the Internet connection and larger viewing/editing of them.

Not sure if that helps any, but thought I would throw it out there. Nice to meet you all! (And sorry if that point has already been tackled)

I have Ipad. It is compatible.

"Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5."

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instagram/id389801252?mt=8

 

[NewYork625]

I thought it was reported that they had 'rounded up' and relocated the homeless people from that area, and some were wondering to where they had been removed? Don't they know what happened to 27people??

One of my theories is that Ziya did not act alone. SS is reported to have bruises on her wrists, and her pants were off. Also, it was discussed here yesterday that someone it was odd noone heard her.

It's possible it was an attempted gang rape, and she fought back to the point that someone hit her hard enough in the head/face to kill her/disfigure her, and the assailants fled the scene.

The bruises on her wrists could have come from one person restraining her, another could have covered her face with the blanket or covered her mouth with their hand to try to silence her, and another could have removed her boots and pants.

The fact that Ziya was seen by some with blood on himself, and that it was his blanket she was wrapped in, might only mean he was the only one anyone took notice of that day. Any one of the assailants might have wrapped her in Ziya's blanket.

I believe she broke her fingers tumbling down the embankment during the struggle, or when she fell trying to get away from the "gang".

 

[Yellow]

"Times have changed. “More Americans have passports now than ever before,” says Ken Chavez, spokesperson for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the US State Department. Over one-third of the population to be exact, or nearly 110 million out of 313 million Americans."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2012/01/30/record-number-of-americans-now-hold-passports/

Passport numbers only increased recently bc the law changed requiring passports for Caribbean travel as well as at least passport cards for Canada and Mexico. It use to be the case that you could use birth certificate for Bermuda, etc, but now it changed, spurring this huge increase.

Before that, passports were about 20%. It is also probably still true that less than 20% travel outside North America ever. Especially w the economy being what it is...

 

[bourne]

You're probably right.

Judging from some of the comments I've seen made to news stories about the incident, a substantial portion of the US population seems to think Turkey is about as western as Yemen and about as attractive to visit. :sigh:

This is a prejudicial opinion. You really need to post links to this overgeneralization.

 

[Yellow]

On pictures of cave whee she was found, there looks to be a street w cars parked. Is that a busy street?

I also noticed there was graffiti on the walls. Maybe she went to photo it, and bc there is a street there she did not think it was isolated.

It looks like a busy street bc there are alot of cars parked. Why wouldn't anyone have seen anything? (Unless Z did...)

 

[bourne]

Passport numbers only increased recently bc the law changed requiring passports for Caribbean travel as well as at least passport cards for Canada and Mexico. It use to be the case that you could use birth certificate for Bermuda, etc, but now it changed, spurring this huge increase.

Before that, passports were about 20%. It is also probably still true that less than 20% travel outside North America ever. Especially w the economy being what it is...

I was refuting the poster's point that only 20% of Americans have passports. Nothing more. Nothing less.

 

[NewYork625]

This is a prejudicial opinion. You really need to post links to this overgeneralization.

I wouldn't say it's prejudicial, and believe there is some truth there. I would go so far as to say that I think there are Americans who don't know Turkey is an ally, and also couldn't pick Turkey out on a map. Just being honest... :truce: