Istanbul police have solved the murder of a teacher whose body was burned and dumped in an industrial area almost 20 years ago

In Istanbul, the missing persons department reviewed old cases that were approaching the statute of limitations. The file of 55-year-old Hikmet Akçay, a retired mathematics teacher whose family reported him missing on May 2, 2006, was reopened. The day before, in the Beyciler industrial area near Silivri, the gendarmerie found a burned, unidentified body — now these two incidents have been merged into one case.

Investigators compared the materials and tracked down people from Akçay’s circle. It was established that he last went to the home of his former student Esin B. in Kocaeli — his phone activity also ends there. After six months of operational work, police carried out raids in Istanbul and Gaziantep and detained four suspects: 42-year-old Esin B., 63-year-old chemistry teacher Erdoğan Y., 45-year-old Zemçi S., and Hakan D., a cousin of one of the suspects.

According to Turkish media, Esin B., who works as a facility manager in one of Istanbul municipality’s structures, confessed during questioning: during an argument at her home, a fight broke out between her and Akçay, she took a knife from the kitchen, wounded him, after which he fell and showed no signs of life. Then, according to her testimony, Zemçi S. appeared in the apartment, followed by the chemistry teacher Erdoğan Y.: they put the body in a suitcase, drove it to the Beyciler area, bought gasoline at a gas station in Avcılar on the way, and burned the remains in the industrial zone.

Police conducted a reenactment: the suspect showed exactly how the murder and the destruction of the body were carried out. In addition, experts restored an old audio recording from a cassette found in Akçay’s room: on it, a man threatens Esin B. with the words, “I will cut you into pieces, put you in a suitcase and burn you.” It was also revealed that in 2000 the teacher had already been investigated on allegations of harassing a student. Final confirmation of the identity of the burned body is expected following DNA analysis.