Breaking News: Reasoned decision in the Narin Güran murder case has been released!

The long-awaited reasoned decision has been released in the murder case of Narin Güran, who was reported missing on August 21 in the Tavşantepe neighborhood of Diyarbakır's Bağlar district, and whose lifeless body was found 19 days later.

It was stated that the reasoned decision in the case, in which three members of the Güran family were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, consists of 950 pages. The identity of the killer could not be determined in the reasoned decision either.

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç had stated in a recent announcement: "When the reasoned decision is released, everyone will have a full grasp of the outcome of this case."

According to the report by Özgür Cebe from Sözcü, the court concluded in the decision that the murder was committed by the defendants based on 4 main points. These include narrowed HTS (historical traffic search) records and cell tower signal overlaps showing that the 4 defendants were together at the time of the murder, the discovery of Narin's DNA in her uncle's vehicle, and camera footage showing two vehicles—one white (belonging to the uncle) and one red (belonging to Nevzat)—moving from the stream bed toward the village via a dirt path on the day of the incident. However, the question of who killed the little girl and why remains unanswered in the reasoned decision.

THE QUESTION OF WHO THE KILLER IS REMAINS UNANSWERED

While the 965-page reasoned decision written by the 8th High Criminal Court did not make a determination regarding who the killer was or why the little girl was murdered, the sentences given to the 4 defendants were explained under 4 main headings. In the reasoned decision, narrowed HTS records and signal overlaps were presented as evidence, showing that Narin, who had not been heard from since 15:15 on August 21—the day of the murder, according to school camera time—was with her mother Yüksel, her uncle Salim, her brother Enes, and Nevzat Bahtiyar at Narin's house and in the area surrounding the house, including the barn and other outbuildings.

DNA IN THE VEHICLE AND HTS RECORDS CITED AS EVIDENCE

It was emphasized that, based on image analysis sent to the National Criminal Bureau, it was accepted that the 4 defendants were complicit in the crime because they were together in the area surrounding the barn near Narin's house, as shown by both HTS records and image examinations. In its reasoned decision, the court pointed out that another piece of evidence crucial to Narin's murder was the discovery of the little girl's DNA on the seat upholstery of the uncle's vehicle with license plate 47 KF 388. It was underscored that although the findings obtained from the vehicle were sent to the Van Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory and the resulting report identified the presence of the little girl's DNA (blood, hair, saliva, etc., though the exact nature could not be determined), Salim Güran could not provide a logical defense consistent with the ordinary flow of life.

TWO VEHICLES IN THE STREAM AND CAMERA FOOTAGE SERVED AS EVIDENCE

In the reasoned decision, another point cited as evidence for the murder was the sighting of two vehicles in the stream bed on the day of the murder—one white (belonging to uncle Salim Güran) and one red (belonging to Nevzat Bahtiyar)—and camera footage showing these vehicles moving from the stream bed toward the village via a dirt path.

The decision noted that there was phone traffic between uncle Salim Güran and the confessor Nevzat Bahtiyar on the day of the murder, and despite Nevzat's initial statement to the gendarmerie claiming, "I did not speak with Salim Güran today, neither face-to-face nor by phone," HTS records showed phone traffic between them. Considering that all family members, especially Salim Güran, had deleted all their call records since the day of the murder, and their efforts to divert the attention of law enforcement to prevent the body from being found, it was stated that Narin Güran was murdered for an undetermined reason with the knowledge and participation of her mother, brother, and uncle, and that the task of disposing of the body was given to Nevzat Bahtiyar, who lived in the same village, by Salim Güran himself.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTHER AND UNCLE IS ONLY NEVZAT'S CLAIM

Another detail that stands out in the court's reasoned decision is that Nevzat Bahtiyar's statement regarding Salim Güran was not taken as the basis for the verdict. Bahtiyar's statement, "Salim told me that Narin saw them while he was having an affair with his sister-in-law, and that he killed Narin for this reason, and he asked me to dismember the body and dispose of it, pointing to the stream with his finger, which I accepted," was not credited. The court pointed out that no evidence could be obtained to support or verify this statement by defendant Nevzat Bahtiyar, and therefore, the claims regarding mother Yüksel Güran's chastity concerning an affair with Salim were contrary to the truth.

"I HARMED MYSELF" DEFENSE IS NOT CONVINCING

Furthermore, considering that brother Enes could not provide a logical explanation consistent with the ordinary flow of life for the bite marks on his arm, the resulting skin lesions and loss of skin integrity, the lesion, ecchymosis, and bruising on his eye due to punching, and the deep wounds and scratch marks on his back, as reported by the Forensic Medicine Institute, and given his contradictory statements such as "I punched myself, I bit myself," it was stated that a full conscientious conviction was reached that he participated in the murder as a perpetrator.

HID THE LITTLE GIRL, PARTICIPATED IN SEARCHES, NO SENTENCE REDUCTION

In the reasoned decision, although a lawsuit was filed against defendant Nevzat Bahtiyar for intentional murder of a child in complicity with the other 3 defendants, it was concluded that Bahtiyar's action constituted "concealing, altering, or destroying evidence of a crime," considering that he saw the little girl's body on the ground when he arrived at Narin's house and placed the body in a sack and hid it in the stream under Salim's threats.

However, it was emphasized that since Narin's lifeless body was not found through defendant Nevzat's confessions or pointing out the location, but rather he participated in the searches with law enforcement for 19 days after hiding the body, and considering the body was left to rot in the water for a long time, the court reached a full conscientious conviction that he should be sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison in accordance with Article 281/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) for the crime committed, and that no discretionary reduction should be applied to him.

ACCORDING TO THIS EVIDENCE, THE MURDER WAS COMMITTED IN COMPLICITY

When the "Şahin Göz" camera belonging to the Dara-2 Military Base Area, which overlooks the village and its surroundings, the school security camera footage taken while the little girl was walking with her friends, HTS records, License Plate Recognition System (PTS) records, the 95 false reports made to the gendarmerie using phones without SIM cards used only for emergency calls on the day of the murder and until the day the little girl was found, reports from the National Criminal Bureau regarding image resolution, Forensic Medicine Institute reports, reports from the Van Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory, images and audio recordings sent to TÜBİTAK for enhancement, and defendant and witness statements are evaluated as a whole, it was recorded that the murder was committed in complicity with the knowledge and observation of mother Yüksel, uncle Salim, and brother Enes.

JUSTICE MINISTER HAD SAID "IT WILL BE CLEAR IN THE REASONED DECISION"

Regarding the mysterious unsolved murder, Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç had stated immediately after Narin's body was found that after the indictment was prepared, who the killer or killers were would be revealed and the public conscience would be relieved. However, just as the killer could not be identified in the indictment, it could not be determined who killed the little girl, why, or for what reason. While the trial was ongoing, Minister of Justice Tunç this time announced, "There is very important evidence in the report prepared regarding narrowed HTS records and signal overlaps showing who was together in the same room second by second." However, even after this report reached the court, the identity of the killer could not be determined. This time, eyes turned to the prosecutor's opinion. But again, the question of who the killer was remained unanswered. After the case was concluded, Minister Yılmaz Tunç, who made another statement, said, "When the reasoned decision is released, everyone will have a full grasp of the outcome of this case. We hope that some debates in the public will end after the reasoned decision emerges. It will be seen more clearly in the reasoned decision which evidence supports the accusations." However, there was no determination or finding in the reasoned decision regarding who the killer was or why the little girl was murdered.

INVESTIGATING PROSECUTOR WENT ON VACATION TO VENICE

During the days when the investigation into the Narin Güran murder, whose killer could not be identified, was ongoing, the fact that the investigating prosecutor in charge of the file went on vacation to Venice, Italy, with his wife, instead of collecting evidence and correctly instructing law enforcement by seizing the phones of family members, caused intense reactions both in the public and in the legal community. It is a matter of curiosity what decision the HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors) will take administratively regarding the investigating prosecutor who went on vacation during the period when the body was found and the investigation was ongoing. Similarly, the fact that the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office did not take the file from this prosecutor and give it to another prosecutor to prevent the investigation from being disrupted due to the investigating prosecutor going on vacation also caused reactions.

News Source: 12punto