Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
This father-of-two pictured here with the family of his best friend who he murdered in a row about money has been jailed for life.
Mehmet Serif Boga, 29, a business partner of victim Ilkay Tokkal, 42, had pleaded not guilty to stabbing his best pal and business partner to death, along with his wife and young son.
The incident took place at the murdered family’s apartment in the neighbourhood of Deliklitas in the Turkish city of Eskisehir on 15th February.
The court heard how Boga, who was in financial difficulties and had argued with his friend Ilkay over money, sneaked into the pals home where he was with his 41-year-old wife Emel Tokkal, and their four-year-old son, Ali Doruk, and stabbed them to death.
CCTV footage showed how on the night of the crime, Boga went to the family’s apartment disguised as a construction worker, wearing work gloves and boots, also sporting a hoodie and face mask to try to obscure his identity.
According to the murder investigation, once inside he had made himself known to the family and been invited in for dinner, leaving 73 minutes later in Ilkay’s clothes with his own bloodied clothes in a bag.
He then went back home and removed his blood-stained clothing, including the socks which he dumped in his cellar that were later found by cops.
According to the autopsy report, Boga stabbed Ilkay 27 times, Emel 18 times, and Ali Doruk four times, which prosecutors say rules out any interpretation other than the fact that it was a deliberate execution.
The killer told the Eskisehir 1st High Criminal Court that he would never have murdered the family who were his best friends.
He said: “We cried, laughed and had fun together with the Tokkal family. We were as close as it’s possible to be. How can I do such a thing? Am I a monster? I was with them every time there was a special occasion. It just makes no sense for me to do this.
Speaking about the evidence against him he said: “The socks do not belong to me. If I had committed a murder, I would not have left those socks there. When I put my head on the pillow in the evening in prison, I sleep with a clear conscience. I have two children, what is happening now is only punishing them.
“I am not the person you are looking for, the killer is wandering out there somewhere.”
The court rejected his appeal however and he was sentenced to ‘aggravated’ life imprisonment for the deliberate murder of 4-year-old Ali Doruk, and two life sentences for the deliberate murders of Emel and Ilkay Tokkal.
A life sentence in Turkey is 24 years in prison, whereas an aggravated life sentence is what was introduced to replace what used to be the death penalty is at least 36 years, or 40 years if given more than one sentence as in this case.
Speaking to the journalists who were waiting in front of the courthouse after the hearing, Emel Tokkal’s daughter Beyzanur Kaya stated that she found the punishment low and said, “I think he is a very lucky person because he received a much better punishment than he deserves. This is all I can say.”
