Man, 48, 'dismembered and carved his name on 21-year-old's body'
WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT: A 21-year-old journalism student who worked part-time as a waitress was cut up with a pruning saw and had her head thrown off a cliff after she accepted an offer to sleep on the sofa of a friend.
Police have arrested civil engineer and real estate agent Mustafa Murat Ayhan, 48, who is accused of strangling the student to death before dismembering her body and burying it in the woods.
He also allegedly wrote his name on her body using a razor blade.
Police say they have recovered most of the remains of Azra Gulendam Haytaoglu, but some parts have not been found including her head, which was thrown off a cliff.
Ayhan allegedly confessed to committing the brutal crime following his arrest in the south-western Turkish city of Antalya.
His arrest came after cops scoured CCTV footage following the young woman's disappearance on July 28, and caught him allegedly entering and leaving to his apartment several times with the same suitcase.
Ayhan is believed to have allegedly sexually assaulted the 21-year-old before strangling her to death in his bathroom, but he denies the first charge.
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He allegedly confessed to dismembering her body with a pruning saw he said he had bought from a market.
The divorced father of one allegedly showed police where he took the victim's body parts in a suitcase and buried them in an area of forest close to the village of Varsak in the district of Kepez.
The young woman's remains were subsequently exhumed and taken for a post-mortem examination in Antalya.
Gruesome details of 21-year-old woman's death
Coroners found the suspect had etched his own name onto the deceased woman's body with a razor blade after killing her.
It is alleged the suspect said he had consumed alcohol and drugs before killing Azra who he knew from the cafe where she worked as a waitress.
It is not known how well they were acquainted, but she had told her sister the last time they spoke she was going to crash for the night on a friend's sofa.
He allegedly said he had offered his living room for Azra to spend the night and claimed he had only tried to cover her with a sheet when he accidentally touched her on the hip and she woke up.
Ayhan then claimed she screamed and he throttled her to stop her from screaming, but she stopped moving and he realised she was no longer breathing or had a pulse.
His neighbours did not buy his version of events, claiming he was constantly drunk, caused parking issues and always brought different women back home with him.
Neighbours attested to hearing shouting from his apartment on the night of the alleged crime and reported a bad smell coming from his apartment in the following days.
He is currently in preventive custody and awaits trial for murder.
Azra's remains will be buried in her hometown of Kadirli in the south of the country.
– Australscope
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