Garipoğlu surrendered to authorities after 197 days in hiding following the grisly discovery of the body of his girlfriend, Münevver Karabulut, whose body was found in a trash bag in a dumpster with her severed head in a guitar case atop her corpse in March 2009. In the ensuing investigation, it was revealed that the last person she was known to have been in contact with was Garipoğlu. Police raided his house, but did not find him and were not able to locate him until the suspect himself surrendered. Two separate indictments have been prepared against the suspects in the murder of Karabulut. In the first indictment Garipoğlu, the main suspect, is to be tried beginning today at İstanbul’s Bakırköy Second Juvenile High Criminal Court, as he was under 18 years of age at the time of the crime. If found guilty, Garipoğlu faces between 18 and 24 years in prison.
The second indictment, prepared for six other suspects in the case, seeks the imprisonment of Hayyam Garipoğlu, the uncle of Cem Garipoğlu, Habib Kurt, Mehmet Karakayalı and Ahmet Batur for a period of between six months and five years on charges of helping the suspect evade police, and of Garipoğlu’s mother, Tülay Makbule Garipoğlu, for allegedly destroying, hiding and tampering with evidence. In addition, the indictment seeks aggravated life imprisonment for Cem Garipoğlu’s father, Mehmet Nida Garipoğlu, on the charge of taking part in the premeditated murder of Karabulut.
