Ayrı killed two women and a transvestite over the course of three days in İzmir before fleeing to Bodrum’s Muğla district, where police arrested him in the early morning hours as he slept in a hostel. Confiscated along with him was the 7.65 mm handgun used in all three murders. The suspect had no previous criminal record and lived in İzmir with his family in a neighborhood near the scenes of the first two murders. News reports yesterday said three of his siblings had also been taken into custody as part of the investigation.“I didn’t know any of the three women that I killed. I was penniless, and I took everything they had on them. Once I started, I knew I would either be caught or I’d continue killing,” Ayrı told police during his initial testimony following his capture in Bodrum, claiming that his motivation for the murders was financial. However, some of his words hinted at darker motivation beneath the surface, a psychology more classically associated with serial killers. “A woman I met in Bodrum three years ago dealt a lot of evil my way; I can’t explain it right now. Because of that, I have no trust left in women. I came to Bodrum to try and find her. If I found her, I was going to shoot her. Then I wanted to find a job here and work. But it’s good that I got caught,” he said.
After finishing his testimony, while drinking tea and smoking a cigarette given to him by police, Ayrı reportedly said that his former girlfriend in Bodrum had gotten him hooked on drugs, spent all of his money and then kicked him out of her house.
Despite Ayrı’s initial statements, questions remain about his motivations. Observers note that his victims did not appear particularly wealthy and that he could have elected to commit armed robbery rather than murdering his victims.
