Is Cem Garipoğlu dead or alive? Officer who attended Garipoğlu's autopsy reveals: "We recorded everything moment by moment"

Müslim SARIYAR / 12punto.com.tr / Exclusive Report -

"Is Cem Garipoğlu dead?" The officer who attended the autopsy has spoken. Cem Garipoğlu, who brutally murdered Münevver Karabulut in Bahçeşehir, Istanbul, committed suicide in his prison cell.

Following the suicide, social media posts emerged claiming, "Cem Garipoğlu did not die, he fled abroad." Doubts grew, and the Karabulut family demanded, "Let Cem's grave be opened."

12punto.com.tr has put an end to the years-long debate regarding Cem Garipoğlu: "Is he dead or not?"

Ekrem Tosun, a retired homicide detective who participated in the autopsy at the Council of Forensic Medicine and was serving at the institution at the time, spoke to 12punto.com.tr.

Tosun stated, "Before the vehicle carrying Cem's body entered the courtyard of the Council of Forensic Medicine, we made video and photographic records. Those moments were recorded second by second. I was present at the autopsy as part of my duty. The person who died was Cem Garipoğlu," he said.

The date was the evening of March 3, 2009. Münevver Karabulut's lifeless body was found dismembered in a trash container in Beşiktaş by a waste collector.

Following the murder, the police conducted an investigation and quickly identified the perpetrator. This person was Cem Garipoğlu. The police raided Garipoğlu's villa in Bahçeşehir. However, Garipoğlu could not be found. It was later revealed that Münevver Karabulut was murdered in this house and the body was subsequently moved.

SURRENDERED AFTER 197 DAYS

Following the murder, the Istanbul Police continued their operations, evaluating every tip to capture Cem Garipoğlu. Cem Garipoğlu, who was surrendered to the police by his lawyer 197 days after the murder, was arrested and sent to prison.

Cem Garipoğlu, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison, was found hanged in his single-person cell at Silivri Prison No. 5 on October 10, 2014.

CEM GARİPOĞLU DID NOT DIE

After the suicide, claims that Cem Garipoğlu did not commit suicide and was smuggled abroad appeared both on social media and in the news. Following the claims that Garipoğlu did not die, the Karabulut family demanded that the grave be opened.

OFFICER WHO ATTENDED THE AUTOPSY SPOKE TO 12PUNTO.COM.TR

"Is Cem Garipoğlu alive, or is that the person who committed suicide?"... 12punto.com.tr asked these questions to the officer who attended the autopsy for the first time in the Turkish press. Retired police officer Ekrem Tosun, who worked at the Istanbul Police Department's Homicide Bureau at the time, described that day.

Tosun said, "I was not involved in the operation regarding the Cem Garipoğlu case. I was at the Council of Forensic Medicine. On the day of the incident, I was called by phone from the homicide bureau's duty office. They told us that Cem Garipoğlu had committed suicide in prison and was being sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy, and they asked us to be careful. Following this news, there was activity at the Council of Forensic Medicine. After all, the case was high-profile.

WE MET THE FUNERAL VEHICLE AT THE GATE BEFORE IT ENTERED THE FORENSIC MEDICINE AND STARTED VIDEO RECORDING

While the funeral vehicle was on its way, aware of the importance of the matter, we held a short meeting and decided to meet the vehicle before it entered the institution's courtyard and to take video and photographic records until the end. We conveyed this to the relevant authorities and received the order for it in a short time. Afterwards, the group I was in met the funeral vehicle in front of the institution, and as it slowly moved inside, we began taking both photo and video records. The arrival at the autopsy section, the opening of the vehicle's door, the transport of the coffin to the morgue, the removal of the body from the coffin, and the start of the autopsy were all recorded on video and photographed frame by frame. We then informed our relevant directors. Later, we also had the DNA comparison done.

IT WAS RECORDED THIS WAY BECAUSE IT WAS A HIGH-PROFILE SUBJECT

This practice was a first in terms of video and photography because it was on Turkey's agenda and was a high-profile subject. Because in the future, in this way, the Council of Forensic Medicine and