27.02.2025 09:01
Şemsettin Erkuvan, 47, who is accused of killing his daughter-in-law, whom he held responsible for his son's death, along with the daughter-in-law's mother and sister in a cemetery, has begun to stand trial for a sentence of three life imprisonments and up to three years in prison. In his defense, the defendant Erkuvan stated, "I wish my hand had broken so that I wouldn't have done it. I am very regretful."
In Adana, 21-year-old Güldane Gerçek, a mother of a girl, allegedly left her husband Muzaffer Erkuvan due to severe incompatibility and moved into a Women's Shelter. On August 24, 2024, Erkuvan went to his mother-in-law Şenay Gerçek's (45) house in the Menekşe neighborhood of Sarıçam district to reconcile with his wife. After his mother-in-law rejected the reconciliation offer, Muzaffer Erkuvan went outside and hanged himself from a tree. After the incident, the Erkuvan family held Güldane, her mother Şenay, and her sister Gaye Gerçek (25) responsible for their son's death.
On October 21, 2024, around 4:00 PM, Şenay, Güldane, and Gaye Gerçek went to visit Muzaffer Erkuvan's grave at Buruk Cemetery in Sarıçam district. Allegedly, Şemsettin Erkuvan, who harbored a grudge against the mother and her two daughters due to his son's suicide, opened fire on the mother and her two daughters sitting on benches near the mortuary stone in the cemetery and fled. Şenay, Güldane, and Gaye Gerçek, who were shot in the head, died at the scene.
CAUGHT HIDING IN A CAVITY
After the incident, a special team established within the Homicide Bureau determined that Şemsettin Erkuvan was hiding in the forest in Göztepe neighborhood following a tip-off to the Sarıçam District Police Department. The homicide teams, supported by the Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations teams, conducted a search in the area and caught Erkuvan hiding in a cavity on the slope with the gun he used in the murder.
"MY SON MUZAFFER DIED 2 MONTHS BEFORE THIS INCIDENT"
The trial against the suspect Şemsettin Erkuvan, who is accused of 'intentional killing and possession of an unlicensed firearm,' began at the Adana 10th High Criminal Court for the three arrested women. The detained suspect Şemsettin Erkuvan participated in the hearing via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS) from the prison where he is held. In the hearing, where the complainants N.G., G.G., and the lawyers of the parties were also present, the suspect Erkuvan claimed that his daughter-in-law and her family were responsible for his son's death. Erkuvan stated, "My son Muzaffer died 2 months before this incident. During the marriage process of my son and daughter-in-law, Güldane's sister Gaye and mother Şenay would sometimes stay at my son's house every day of the week and sometimes for a few days a week. Şenay and Gaye were using drugs. They got my son addicted to drugs. They called my son's death a suicide, but it was my daughter-in-law Güldane, her sister Gaye, and her mother Şenay who killed him," he said.
Erkuvan continued his defense by saying that his daughter-in-law ran away with someone else while being religiously married to his son Muzaffer: "My daughter-in-law and my son have small children. One day, my daughter-in-law's little sister came to our door with a child and said, 'my sister wants a divorce now,' leaving the child with us and leaving. My son loved his daughter-in-law very much. He did not want to divorce her. This continued for a while. One day, when I got up for the morning prayer, someone was throwing stones at our window. When I looked out the window, I saw that this person was E.D. I had bought a vehicle for my son. This person and my son were working together. E.D. said to me, 'uncle, can you call Muzaffer? There is a scrap job somewhere. We will go there.' After I told my son, I prayed and went to work. After my son went to work and returned, his mother-in-law called him and asked him to come to talk. They took my son and went to the forest behind Balcalı with a vehicle. Why would a person go there to talk? These people used the fact that my son loved my daughter-in-law to deceive him. They threatened him by saying, 'we will separate you from Güldane' and made him indebted. They also asked my son for money. While they were talking, his mother-in-law recorded my son on her cell phone. In the video I watched later, my son says to his mother-in-law, 'oh mother, how did you find me? What did I do for Güldane to leave me?'
"THEY TOLD ME YOU WILL PAY YOUR SON'S 600 THOUSAND TL DEBT"
Erkuvan claimed that after his son died, his in-laws began to threaten him and demand money, and he recounted the moment of the incident in the cemetery: "After my son died, we couldn't get rid of them. While my son-in-law and I were at a condolence visit, they came to us and said, 'we killed your son, we will kill you too. You will pay your son's 600 thousand TL debt.' For this reason, I carried my son Muzaffer's gun with me. On the day of the incident, I went to visit my son's grave. My daughter-in-law Güldane, her mother Şenay, and her sister Gaye were also coincidentally there. When I saw them, I got angry and took out my gun to ask who killed my son. My only aim was to find out who killed my son. At that moment, I said to my daughter-in-law Güldane, 'why did you do this? Everything happened because of you.' She replied, 'your son is dead, now it's your turn.' I got angry and shot at all of them. I had no intention of killing. If I had, I would have done it beforehand. I wish my hand had broken so that I wouldn't have done it. I did it in a moment of anger. I regret it.
The only witness to the incident, Güldane's 16-year-old sister E.G., stated that her mother and sister were killed in front of her eyes. E.G. recounted how her family was killed: "The day before the incident, my uncle's sister Dudu Kanduman sent a photo of my uncle in the coffin to my mother's phone because my sister didn't use a phone, saying, 'come see your daughter, why are you running away from us.' My sister, who was psychologically disturbed, wanted to go to my uncle's grave when she saw the photo. My mother did not allow her and said, 'we will go together in the morning.' In the morning, my mother, my two sisters, and a few friends went to visit my uncle's grave. There, we encountered my uncle's mother, Tülay Erkuvan. She said to us, 'what are you doing here? We don't want to see you.' Then she called someone on the phone. After 5-10 minutes, Dudu Kanduman called my mother and said, 'my mother called me, you are at the cemetery. Wait there. I will show you your daughter.'
While Tülay was at her son's grave, we moved to the place where the funeral prayer was held, which is the mortuary stone. Dudu came with my niece in her arms. While my sister was hugging her daughter, I went to get water. As I was going to my sisters after getting water, I saw Şemsettin Erkuvan coming with a gun. When I saw him and started to run away, I felt something pass by my foot and realized he was shooting at me. Dudu also ran away with my niece while my father opened fire on my mother and two sisters. After shooting them, he fled the scene.
The complainants G.G. and N.G. also stated that they filed a complaint against the suspect who killed their mother and sister.
The public prosecutor requested that the suspect be sentenced to life imprisonment for 'intentional killing' of the three women and up to 3 years in prison for possession of an unlicensed firearm. The court decided to continue the suspect's detention and postponed the hearing for a later date.