DNA tests on the remains of Cem Garipoğlu, the young man convicted in 2011 of murdering and beheading his girlfriend and found dead in his cell in 2014 in an apparent suicide, seem to corroborate that the body buried in his grave does indeed belong to the killer: a result that, however, is far from convincing his family and many Turks who still believe that his death was faked to evade justice.
According to Turkish media reports, bone samples taken from Garipoğlu’s grave and tested for DNA seem to confirm that the buried body belongs to Garipoğlu, who in 2009 brutally murdered his 17-year-old girlfriend Münevver Karabulut out of jealousy, and who remained on the run from justice for 6 months with the help of his family, who owns several companies and have important contacts and influence in Turkey.
In 2014, while serving his prison sentence, Garipoğlu was found dead in his cell in an apparent act of suicide, but since then and for the past 10 years there have always been all sorts of rumours and even studies speculating that his demise could have been part of a plot orchestrated by his wealthy and influential family to help him escape the country; in fact, his mother and uncle were also convicted during the trial for helping him escape and destroying evidence of the horrendous crime.
One of the strongest supporters of the conspiracy theory surrounding Garipoğlu’s death has been Süreyya Karabulut, the murdered girl’s father, who for years called for the body buried in the enigmatic grave to be examined to verify that it belonged to the killer.
The victim’s family demands more evidence
Finally, at the end of September, the prosecutor’s office authorised the exhumation of the remains so that her identity could be confirmed by molecular genetic testing. And in a statement issued today by the Silivri (west of Istanbul) Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, it confirmed that ‘meticulous DNA examinations of the bones, teeth and other samples have been carried out’, and that the skeletal remains from the grave confirm that they correspond to the son of the killer’s parents, Mehmet Nida and Tülay Makbule, with a 99.99% probability.
In addition, the DNA samples would also match those taken from Garipoğlu’s body after his suicide in prison. In total, one sample from the clavicle bone, two samples of bone tissue from the femur, one sample from the humerus and four dental samples were taken from the grave for use in the genetic study.
The mystery now seems to revolve around a 30 x 30 cm transparent nylon bag found in the killer’s grave, of which there was no previous record, and which the victim’s family lawyer, Rezan Epözdemir, has asked the prosecutor’s office to submit for fingerprint and biological tests. For his part, the father of the beheaded girl, Süreyya Karabulut, has explained that they have not had access to the DNA report and that they only know its conclusions through the public statements of the prosecution: therefore, he has announced that they will ask for new reports and for tests to be carried out on the alleged bones of Cem Garipoğlu to determine the age of the remains.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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