The hitman and the instigator claimed 'those with him fired the shots,' but...

The trial for the murder of Sinan Ateş continued on its second day. The instigators of the murder, hitman Eray Özyağcı and Doğukan Çep, claimed that they only intended to wound Sinan Ateş due to a personal grudge. They presented a defense arguing that “Özyağcı fired at Ateş’s leg, but the bullets that killed Ateş were fired from the weapons held by those accompanying him.” 

These individuals, who gave the impression of “acting in concert with the hitmen,” alleged that Ateş was struck by weapons used by Selman Bozkurt and Ahmet Keçik, who were with Sinan Ateş. They even suggested that the weapons Bozkurt and Keçik surrendered after the murder had actually been swapped, thereby concealing the weapon used in the murder.

SO, WHAT ARE THE FACTS?

B Yüzü has revealed documents showing that 3 weapons were used at the scene where Sinan Ateş was murdered. One was the weapon used by hitman Eray Özyağcı, and the other two were the weapons Ateş’s friends used to return fire at Özyağcı. The hitman destroyed the weapon he used after the murder. In his statement, he claimed he had hidden the weapon and could not remember where.

On the other hand, the Criminal Police Laboratory examined the other two weapons that Ateş’s friends used to return fire. One was a Canik brand, and the other was a handmade weapon with the inscription LLLCCCSSSLLLCC on it. Both weapons used 9x19 mm caliber ammunition. Furthermore, the police had in their possession fragments of 5 bullets recovered from Sinan Ateş’s body. In other words, 5 bullets, four of which were fatal, had struck Ateş’s body. Additionally, 12 shell casings were found outside of Ateş’s body.

In total, there were 17 bullets involved at the scene—5 that struck Sinan Ateş and 12 that did not—and 3 weapons used.

The laboratory examination determined that the 5 bullets recovered from Ateş’s body did not come from the weapons surrendered by Ateş’s friends.

The same examination determined that 5 of the shell casings found at the scene came from the Canik brand weapon, and 2 of the casings came from the handmade weapon with LLLCCCSSSLLLCC written on it.

According to the laboratory report, the two weapons brought by Sinan Ateş’s friends had not been swapped. They were the weapons used at the scene. A total of 7 shell casings came from these weapons. However, the 5 bullet traces recovered from Sinan Ateş’s body did not belong to them. They came from a third weapon. Consequently, this situation showed that Ateş was struck by a bullet from the hitman’s weapon, not his friends’. However, the hitman would not reveal the location of that murder weapon, claiming he “did not remember.” 

Sinan Ateş’s autopsy report also confirms that he was shot from the front, not from the side of his companions. This is because the bullet that entered his head exited under his chin, and the bullet that entered from the front exited his back.

It was observed that the hitman fired, then Ateş fell, and subsequently, the hitman continued to fire from the front… Selman Bozkurt fled to the left, Ahmet Keçik to the right, and Keçik returned, picked up Ateş’s weapon from the ground, and fired toward the hitman.