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

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I'm not sure how you can be so sure of that, I have definitely been in a taxi on that road, that time of day, and it we definitely were not the only car...it's not busy like the bridges get busy, but its hardly abandoned.

There's a great scene in that movie Head On (awesome Fatih Akin flick) when Cahit arrives in Istanbul and goes by taxi via Kennedy Caddesi mid-day into Istanbul.

It's not like it's super-crowded, but busy enough that if a pedestrian got smashed by a car it would stop a least some traffic and people would notice.
 
CMac2,
A LOT of people I know who are economically strapped have good phones. But here's the clutch point: They're bundled onto their parents' family plan. I know others that bundle together with friends or relatives of the same generation to lower the cost. The initial account is the expensive one. Adding an additional line, even with all the bells and whistles, can be like 40 bucks a month. Without bells and whistles, it can be as cheap as 10 bucks. Often the phone itself is a gift from their parents to keep them connected. (As an aside, this is why practically every 20 something heroin addict in Portland, OR has a cellphone, their parents keep up the plan.)


I have wanted a Samsung Galaxy III for months now. I am not eligible for an upgrade on my contract for a year or so, and if I were to buy one full price without the benefit of the upgrade, I'd spend about $650. Even with the upgrade, I'm still spending $400. After that, factor in the data plan- for a single person, after talk-time, texting and the required data package (unless you get an unlocked phone- which is even more expensive every major cell phone carrier requires a data plan when you purchase a smart phone. Doesn't matter that the device is Wifi capable)- you're looking at a MINIMUM of $100/mo for your phone bill. Add the iPad's data package to that, and you're looking at what, $140-$150 a month? This is if she's only covering herself on the plan, and not her husband and/or anyone else. I have 3 phones on my plan, and my bill is just over $200/mo. Regarding the iPad, she could have had an iPad mini, which doesn't require a long-term contract.

All that said, though, I am AMAZED at how many people have these devices that I never would have thought had the means to purchase them. My DH is a mentor for an organization that pairs successful black men with troubled youth. The 14 year old boy he is currently mentoring has 5 siblings that are all younger than him, his mother is a struggling single mother, but he has a Samsung Galaxy III and a whole lot of other electronic playthings.

If this particular type of photography meant that much to SS, she may have made the sacrifice to purchase the devices she'd need to make it happen. While crazy-expensive for a phone, it is not much different than a nice camera- but unlike a nice camera, she has calling, texting, internet capabilities to boot.
 
BBM
Yes, but to be fair, it would be a fulltime job for someone from Turkish LE to confirm, deny or no-comment all the conflicting details that have been reported. I'm not sure we can use that lack of an official denial as a measuring stick.

I am beginning to wonder if all the mis-reporting is a brilliant plan to keep the public out of the business of LE. If I were them, and I didn't want the public all up in my business, I might plant a few whoppers to send everyone on a wild goose chase in a different direction than where I was investigating. Who really knows? I think I will only take as a possible FACT that which is stated and attributed to a named official. Unnammed sources are good for theories, but we have been duped before my friends.

Point taken. We can theorize, but little is certain.

However, the cause of death and basic disposition of the crime scene was reported from the Head of the Istanbul Homicide Division directly to an American journalist (as first linked here by ThinkHard).

So it's hard to say any of the following is in dispute:

Ercikti then outlined the facts of the case. Sierra was struck in the head with a blunt object, almost certainly the cause of death. She tried to defend herself, and parts of her clothing were torn in the struggle. Her body was covered with a blanket when it was found inside a cavern of the ancient walls, obscuring it from view. Ercikti said Sierra may have been killed nearby, her body then dragged to the spot where it was found, with the intention of hiding it there. It was far less likely, he said, that she had died elsewhere in the city and then been transported there.

“The people we need to speak with are getting scared away.”
“Anything other than this is speculation,” he said.

LINK
 
munich can u make the pics smaller? That messes up the page.

And yep that is the cavern-like area where the body was...

I think I figured out how to fix it.

I know it's the area, but do we know specifically where / which cavern?

[ETA: There's a short video of the area, but it still doesn't really depict it clearly for me. I went past there when I was in Istanbul last year, but I have trouble seeing how all the images connect.]
 
Is this a fact...Did you read this on her IG account? or are you referring to the long debate forum members had regarding their own personal choice to use a camera phone over a DSLR? (which is ridiculous BTW :D )

I have no knowledge of it, I thought another WS member said it many moons ago and many pages back. I could be mis-remembering, definitely!
 
I think I figured out how to fix it.

I know it's the area, but do we know specifically where / which cavern?

It's the small hole. They said 1 m. something on the news sometime ago. It should be the small oven-like cave.
 
It's the small hole. They said 1 m. something on the news sometime ago. It should be the small oven-like cave.

This explains why the falling theory is debunked and how initial reports said it was right near the road.

Thank you, Yashim!
 
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