Double murder trial in Turkey adjourned

Verdicts in the trial in Izmir, Turkey, of a waiter and his father accused of murdering two women from Co Down have been put back to September for more psychiatric tests.

Recep Cetin (22) and his father Eyup Cetin (43) were due to hear the verdicts yesterday, more than two years after the killings of Marion Graham and Cathy Dinsmore.

The bodies of the women, both 53, were found in woods on the outskirts of Izmir in western Turkey in 2011. Both had suffered multiple stab wounds. Relatives of the victims, including Shannon Graham, the girlfriend of Recep Cetin at the time of the killings, attended court yesterday. They were joined by Ireland’s Honorary Consul-General, Bulent Akgerman.

Judges at Izmir Bayrakli Fifth High Criminal Court reviewed a mental health report ordered in May which concluded Recep Cetin was sane and criminally responsible.

Review
Recep said he agreed with the findings and was guilty of the crime, but his solicitor Altan Tunali rejected the report and called for a review.

After an adjournment the judges announced that a fresh report would be sought from the Forensic Medicine Institution, a higher medical authority than previously consulted.

As the decision was announced, Recep turned to the family and said in English: “I am sorry. I am sorry.”