Boyfriend of Duygu, found hanging from a towel radiator, arrested 1.5 years later: 'I did what was expected of me'

Duygu Bölükbaş (33), who worked as a manager at a textile firm and lived in the same house as her boyfriend E.T. (28), was found dead on November 3, 2022, hanging from a towel radiator in the bathroom of her home in a luxury residential complex in the Bornova district. In their initial statements to the police, Bölükbaş's boyfriend E.T. and his aunt S.T. claimed that they had found the young woman dead in the bathroom. In his statement, the young woman's boyfriend alleged that Duygu was prone to suicide, that she had entered the bathroom after an argument they had, that when she did not come out, he asked his aunt S.T. to check on her, and that they subsequently found Duygu Bölükbaş's lifeless body.

The indictment prepared after the investigation stated that E.T. had injured the woman's head with a hard object following an argument with Duygu Bölükbaş, and subsequently strangled her to death with an object. Within the scope of the investigation, the report obtained from the Biology Department of the İzmir Forensic Medicine Branch Directorate stated that E.T.'s DNA was found in the nail samples and on the t-shirt of the victim. Bölükbaş's family and relatives also stated in their testimonies that Bölükbaş was not someone prone to suicide. On the other hand, records obtained from the site security guards revealed that E.T. had previously tried to enter the house with a knife in his hand. When all the evidence was evaluated together, it was determined that the incident under investigation was not a suicide but a case of intentional homicide, and a detention warrant was issued for the suspect E.T. E.T. was arrested on March 22, approximately 1.5 years after the incident.

In the indictment prepared by the prosecutor's office regarding the incident, it was emphasized that it was not possible for Bölükbaş to hang herself with a bedsheet, and that considering the wall where the towel radiator was located and the wooden bathroom counter approximately 1 meter high adjacent to this wall, there was not enough height for the victim to hang herself. The indictment also stated that if Bölükbaş had let herself go, her toes, knees, and even her hip area would have touched the counter. The prosecutor demanded an aggravated life sentence for E.T. for the crime of 'intentional killing of a woman', and up to 4 years in prison for the defendant's aunt S.T. for the crime of 'perjury'. The indictment was accepted by the İzmir 3rd High Criminal Court.

"I AM NOT A MURDERER"

Defendant E.T. appeared before the judge at the hearing held today regarding the incident. In addition to the detained defendant E.T. and the non-detained defendant S.T., Bölükbaş's mother Nuriye Bölükbaş, father Selahattin Bölükbaş, siblings, family lawyer Levent Kahya, and defense lawyers Muhammet Emre Tayyar and Bekir Sıtkı Hastürk were present in the courtroom at the İzmir 3rd High Criminal Court. Denying the accusations directed at him during the session, defendant E.T. said, "I am not a murderer. I did what was required of me. When my late partner hung herself, I did everything to save her. We were moving on the day of the incident; there were no problems between us. My friend Uğur was also helping with the moving process. I asked him for cleaning supplies. He brought a bucket and a mop. My aunt came to help with the moving. I asked about Duygu, and I said she was in the bathroom. She knocked on the door a few times. When there was no sound, I got suspicious, took the door off its hinges, and went inside. I saw Duygu's body. I started a struggle to keep her alive."

When the presiding judge asked how Bölükbaş committed suicide with the towel radiator, defendant E.T. said, "I think she hung herself from the very corner of the towel radiator. When I wanted to lift her, she hit her head on the cleaning supplies there. That's why there was a wound. I was the one who called 112."

Non-detained defendant S.T. stated, "I knocked on the door, E. opened it. I asked about Duygu, he said, 'She's in the toilet.' I knocked on the door a few times, it didn't open. When E. opened the door, I saw that she had hung herself. I screamed with all my might in the apartment, I asked for help."

"HE WAS CONSTANTLY PRESSURING MY DAUGHTER"

Given the floor at the hearing, the grieving mother Nuriye Bölükbaş stated that she was a complainant against the defendant and said, "After she met E., I tried to dissuade my daughter. They had opened a cafe together. She had said they fought because E. was selling drugs there. One day when he came to us, there was a knife mark on his face. I begged her not to return to İzmir, but she returned saying she was going to her friend. The defendant was constantly pressuring my daughter."

Duygu's father, Selahattin Bölükbaş, said, "One midnight, a message came from a number I didn't know: 'Come and get your daughter. Her death will be by my hand.' I didn't know the number. I learned it was E. Afterwards, I opposed this relationship. My daughter was always subjected to violence and hid it from us. May God not let anyone experience this. We were devastated when we received the news. I am a complainant."

WITNESS TESTIMONIES WERE HEARD

After the defendants and complainants, the witnesses were given the floor. The site security guard, Ü.G., said, "A report came in as a fight announcement. I heard the defendant's voice saying, 'My partner committed suicide, help.' We knocked on the door. She was unconscious. She had no breathing or pulse. I started CPR. There was a cut-like wound on her forehead. I handed her over to the medical teams. There were complaints of fighting before as well. It happened to coincide with a few of my shifts."

Duygu's aunt N.K., who was heard as a witness, also said that her niece was constantly subjected to violence and was threatened by the defendant with harm to her son. Witness U.E., who was there on the day of the incident, said, "I was working at Duygu and E.'s workplace. On the day of the incident, the defendant asked me for food, drinks, a cleaning bucket, and a mop. He asked me to help move the house. When I finished my work outside, I went upstairs. When I went up, Duygu was lying on the floor in the apartment hallway."

After the defense of the defendants and witnesses, the lawyers for the parties took the floor. Defense lawyer Muhammet Emre Tayyar requested his client's acquittal, saying, "It is proven by the autopsy report that the incident was not a murder. Furthermore, there is sufficient distance for hanging between the towel radiator and the floor in the incident in question."

The family's lawyer, Levent Kahya, said, "Everything is in the file for murder. According to physics, it is not possible for the victim to hang herself. There is no doubt here."

After the defenses, the court panel announced its interim decision. The panel decided to continue the defendant's detention, ruled for the deficiencies in the file to be addressed, and adjourned the hearing to February 27, 2025.