'If it wasn't for ice, she'd still be alive'
On April 17 last year, Jenny Doyle recieved a phone call that will haunt her forever.
“You don’t believe it, the whole way to Melbourne it was a blur,” she said.
Jenny’s eldest daughter Kara was blasted in the groin with a sawn off shotgun wielded by her ice-addicted boyfriend Mehmet Torun, a horrific climax to a six month relationship which had spiralled out of control.
“People would assume that she’s just another drug addict who got lost in that sort of world, but that wasn’t the case at all – she was lured into that life, that short life,” Jenny said.
“She was good at everything, schooling, really good at maths… she won lots of awards.”
A qualified accountant, Kara's life changed completely when she and her younger sister Chloe moved to Melbourne.
They lived in a neat two-storey townhouse.
But when Kara began dating 24-year-old Mehmet, young Chloe was horrified by her sister's new boyfriend.
Chloe moved out and Mehmet moved in
Jenny believes Mehmet introduced her daughter to the drugs ice and marijuana.
Veteran Detective Ron Iddles says in the 1980s, heroin was a big issue, but now he says it is ice, which, in Victoria alone, has featured in 14 murders over 14 months.
“The common denominator that I've seen in the last seven murders that I've investigated is Ice,” he said.
“People who took heroin once, most of them went to sleep, the problem with ice is they can go for four or five days without sleep, they become irrational.”
In the lead up to shooting Kara, Mehmet Torun became increasingly violent.
He broke his hand punching walls, smashed plates over his own head and had threatened to kill Kara and others.
At this point, Kara was jobless, broke and desperate to leave.
“He threatened Kara as well, he put a blowtorch to her face,” Jenny said.
“[If I had known] I would have driven there myself, whether he had a gun, whether he was on ice.”
The truth about Kara's life with Torun was revealed as she lay in hospital fighting for life.
“It was just in absolute squalor. Terrible for anyone to live in, let alone a beautiful young woman,” Jenny’s husband Mark Baker said.
Kara’s injuries were horrific, doctors tried for five days to save Kara as mum Jenny kept a bedside vigil.
Despite several operations, Kara never regained consciousness.
“She always talked about donating her organs, she saved the lives of two younger people, so that was good,” Jenny said.
“At least I know she's around somewhere.”
Mark and Jenny are shattered that Torun may be freed from jail in four years.
“People like this are evil filthy and don’t deserve to walk the planet,” Mark said.
Simple fact is if it wasn’t for ice Kara would be alive today.
“[If it wasn’t for ice], she would be still alive today, for sure,” Jenny said.
