Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
A man has confessed in court to chopping off the arms, legs and genitals of a man he owed money to with a handsaw and disposing of his body parts in a septic tank in his mum’s garden.
Brothers Oktay Yilmaz, 51, and Mehmet Yilmaz, 46, appeared in court in the Turkish city of Antalya for the first time on Wednesday, 20th October.
The two are on trial over the death of Suleyman Eken, 54, who disappeared from the neighbourhood of Deniz in the district of Muratpasa, leading his mother to file a missing person report with the police on 13th January last year.
A police investigation into the brothers was launched after CCTV footage and mobile phone records showed the victim had met with them shortly before his disappearance.
The victim’s mobile phone signal had placed him at the house of the suspects’ mother, Gulger Yilmaz, in the neighbourhood of Cubukli in the district of Dosemealti.
After searching the property with the help of a sniffer dog in April, body parts belonging to the victim were found in the septic tank in the garden.
The police managed to recover most of the body parts, but to this day have been unable to find the victim’s head or torso.
Following the grim discovery, the two men were arrested and the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office prepared an indictment demanding life imprisonment for the suspects for aggravated murder.
It also demanded each suspect be sentenced to 22 years in prison for extortion and deprivation of liberty.
In the hearing yesterday, Oktay Yilmaz shocked the court by telling those present: “I tried to cut Suleyman’s body with a knife. When it didn’t work, I cut off his arms and legs with a handsaw. I put the body parts in plastic bags. I threw the body and head into a container.”
However, he went on to downplay his role in the crime, telling the court: “I killed this man, but I did not kill this man willingly and knowingly.”
He claimed he met the victim through a mutual friend two years prior and had borrowed money from him to be paid back with interest on several occasions.
He claimed that on the day of the crime he owed the victim TRY 2,000 (GBP 157), but only had TRY 500 (GBP 39) to pay him at the time.
He said he spoke to the victim over the phone and arranged to meet him at his home office to give him the cash.
When the victim turned up, the suspect said he told him he would have to wait a few days to receive the remainder of the money, resulting in the victim allegedly insulting him and then pulling out a gun on him.
The defendant claimed Suleyman told him: “You have long hair and earrings in your ears. You don’t look like a man.”
He said Suleyman then exposed his genitals and said: “Pull down your pants, I’ll make you my boy.”
The defendant said he tried to grab the gun from Suleyman’s hand and it accidentally went off during the ensuing struggle, killing Suleyman. He then revealed to the court: “I cut off his genitals.”
He told the court he then called his brother to tell him about what had happened before deciding to dispose of the body, parts of which he dumped in the septic tank in his mother’s garden.
He said he threw the knife and gun in the sea.
Mehmet Yilmaz denied knowing about the murder and denied any involvement in the disposal of the corpse.
The trial is ongoing.
