06.11.2026 16:14
Mehmet K., who jumped from the balcony of his eighth-floor home in Eskişehir after killing his wife Sevim K. and left a note for his neighbor saying 'My wife was poisoned by fish,' appeared before the judge. While the defendant claimed that his wife had 'insulted his manhood,' the victim's brother alleged that the murder was premeditated for financial assets and that the body remained in the locked house for 3 days. It was decided that the defendant's detention would continue.
The trial of the defendant, who jumped from a balcony after killing his wife in Eskişehir and attempted suicide, and who told police while being taken to hospital that “We were poisoned by fish,” has begun. At the first hearing, while the defendant made the defense that “I called while I was outside, my wife did not answer; during this time I realized that Sevim was dead,” the victim’s brother said, “He wanted to have my sister’s property and gold sold and given to his daughters.”
The first hearing was held in the case concerning the death of Sevim K., the wife of Mehmet K., who was determined to have killed her, after he was injured by jumping from the balcony of his home on the 8th floor in Eskişehir and said “We were poisoned by fish” while being taken to hospital. The hearing at the Eskişehir 7th High Criminal Court was attended by the detained defendant Mehmet K., the victim Sevim K.’s brother and complainant Servet Özdemir, the parties’ lawyers, and witnesses.
HE DESCRIBED FISH POISONING IN HIS DEFENSE
In his defense, the detained defendant Mehmet K. stated that he and his wife had had an argument, and said: “I was fed up with the lie of this life. She belittled me. She was saying ‘We were poisoned because of fish,’ and I was saying ‘Let’s go to the hospital,’ but she would not go. She shouted at sahur time; I said ‘Don’t shout.’ I vomited, but she did not. She insulted my manhood. I gave up on living. I do not know how I killed her at that moment. In prison I experience loss of consciousness for 4-5 minutes, I fall from the bunk; my friends told me. I wanted to cover her mouth so she would not shout, and I also threw myself down. I did not call the police; I went outside thinking maybe she had not died—I had money to collect—I came home and she was still lying there. I had tried to kill myself twice before; first I grabbed the elevator panel so I would get electrocuted, then I jumped from the 8th floor and it did not happen. My wife used to belittle me. This incident happened in the bedroom, and I also fainted. In the morning I went out and took care of my business. While I was outside I called, my wife did not answer; during this time I realized that Sevim was dead. On a piece of cardboard, addressed to my neighbor, I wrote: ‘Dear Tolga, give many greetings to your father, give greetings to your father. My wife was poisoned by fish inside, she could not vomit. I vomited, thank you very much Tolga, greetings to your father, my brother İsmail.’ The purpose of writing this note was so that when I killed myself my body would be found. We have no child. We had not had a big argument before. On the day of the incident, the victim said, ‘Shame on your manhood; referring to the inheritance, you could not get your property from your brother,’ and I said, ‘My salary is enough for me.’ I called my daughter Özlem, she did not answer. I wrote a note to Tolga. When I saw Sevim motionless in bed, I called both my daughters, they did not answer; for this reason I wrote a note to Tolga.”
HIS BROTHER POINTED TO THE ASSETS
The defendant’s lawyer, however, argued that his client had attempted suicide, lost his perception of time, and that the provisions on unjust provocation should be applied, and requested acquittal and release.
The victim Sevim K.’s brother and complainant Servet Özdemir claimed in his statement that the defendant had committed the murder with premeditation because of property. Özdemir said: “My sister had pistachio income and properties in Urfa. The defendant wanted to have my sister’s property and gold sold and given to his daughters. When my sister did not accept, he committed the murder, kept the body in the locked house for 3 days, and lied to the neighbors saying ‘She went to the village.’ If they were poisoned by fish, a person would call an ambulance. I am complaining; let other women not die.”
The complainant’s lawyers also stated that the defendant had made contradictory statements and requested that he be punished to the maximum extent.
NEIGHBORS TESTIFIED AS WITNESSES
The neighbor Ş.A., who attended the hearing as a witness, said: “They are my neighbors, but we are not close. As far as I know, they live on the 7th floor. Around 8 a.m. I heard a noise, but I thought it came from the street. The building manager Remzi Atçı came to my door and said, ‘Mehmet abi is not there, he fell.’ I told the manager, ‘I just heard a loud noise.’ The defendant fell onto the sheet-metal part in front of my balcony. I opened the door; Remzi and Ms. Ümmühan with him went outside and said he was not dead. I am a person who works from 6 to 8; I do not know the defendant and the victim, and I have no knowledge of their family life.”
Another witness, neighbor Ü.Y., stated: “She is my next-door neighbor; she has been my neighbor for 10 years. During Ramadan, on Wednesday at sahur, they argued; there was shouting back and forth. There were constantly arguments, as in every home. After that day I did not hear the victim Sevim’s voice, and I did not contact her either—until the defendant threw himself down. On the day of the incident, I was going to send my daughter to school; I opened the door; the defendant had written a note on the door, and it fell at my feet. We used to talk at the door; Sevim did not mention her marriage. About 6 months before the incident, she came to my door once and said, ‘Our noise bothered you a lot, sorry.’ I said, ‘Not at all, sister; my children also make a lot of noise, and you never came.’ When I saw her in the apartment building, there were no bruises on her hands or face.”
Asked for his final statement, Mehmet K. said, “I have nothing to say; if you have a death sentence, give it.”
The court panel decided that the defendant’s detention should continue and adjourned the hearing to December.
BROTHER: THE BODY REMAINED IN THE HOUSE FOR THREE DAYS
After the hearing, the victim’s brother Servet Özdemir spoke about the process as follows:
“We heard the news of my sister—that is, the news of her death—from the news reports. When we got the news, we came to the morgue of Eskişehir City Hospital. Her neighbor was next to the morgue; she spoke of her, saying ‘We have been neighbors for 11 years; she was a very modest, ritually clean woman.’ Her neighbor said, ‘I have been calling for three days; she does not answer the phone.’ I said to Mehmet, ‘I am calling sister Sevim; she does not answer the phone,’ and he replied to me, ‘She went to the village.’ Her neighbor said, ‘We believed it too.’ Three days later Mehmet threw himself down. Later, the teams that came to the scene looked at the locked house. Inside was sister Sevim’s body. There was also a smell. Inside, at court, Mehmet says things like ‘We ate fish, then my head spun, I vomited.’ Later Mehmet testifies, ‘I had a fight with Sevim.’ Can such a thing happen from fish? If you were poisoned by fish, call an ambulance, call the medical teams. Then he says we argued, then he testifies that I went out to pray; I think all of these are lies. The body remained in the house for three days. It remained inside, locked at the door. Someone told Mehmet, ‘Throw yourself down so you can be proven right.’ After the man fell to the ground, his neighbors told the police, ‘This man’s house has been locked for three days; take a look inside.’ He strangled Sevim at home. Mehmet wanted my sister to sell the pistachio orchard that was in her name; he wanted to give the money to his daughters. Mehmet said, ‘Give the gold too,’ because his daughters were divorced, to spend on his daughters. Sevim said, ‘I will not give the gold or the money.’ I am complaining; let such people not kill other poor women. Women are a trust from God. She bathes you, bears children, raises soldiers for the homeland, raises children—does a woman die? If you could not get through, call us; we could not get through either; come on, take them; you should have told us these things.”