21.07.2026 17:20
The indictment has been prepared for the case regarding the death of Elena Beyder Usluca, whose bones were found in a forested area after her husband, who was detained last year following her disappearance in Antalya in 2018, led authorities to the location. The prosecutor has requested an aggravated life sentence for Mehmet Erkan Usluca. It was revealed that the defendant, who claimed his wife died after falling down while attacking him with a knife, imitated her voice after her death, called the bank, and sold her vehicle.
In the indictment regarding the death of Elena Beyder Usluca, who disappeared in Antalya in 2018, it was stated that her husband Mehmet Erkan Usluca killed his wife intentionally, called the bank by imitating her voice, and sold her car. The prosecutor demanded aggravated life imprisonment.
HUSBAND FILED A MISSING PERSON REPORT The incident began on December 25, 2018, when Mehmet Erkan Usluca filed a missing person report at the Muratpaşa Demircikara Police Station. According to the information obtained, Erkan Usluca claimed that his wife Elena Beyder Usluca had left home on November 24, had not returned for one month, was a cancer patient, and sometimes left the house. However, as a result of detailed investigations, it was determined that no news could be obtained from Elena Beyder Usluca, she had no foreign exit records, and bank/HTS records supported the suspicious situation.
CONFESSED TO KILLING AND BURYING HIS WIFE As a result of approximately one year of technical and physical surveillance, it was assessed that Usluca was killed by his wife between November 24-26, 2018, and that the suspect's brother R. U. helped hide the body after the incident. The suspects were detained last year in a simultaneous operation. In his statement, Usluca confessed to arguing with his wife, saying she fell to the ground and died during the scuffle, then he buried the body in the Aksu Kumköy forest area. During the site demonstration, skeletal fragments considered to belong to the woman were found. Among the suspects referred to the courthouse, R. U. was released under judicial control, while her husband Mehmet Erkan Usluca was arrested and sent to prison.
According to the indictment prepared by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Mehmet Erkan Usluca applied to the Demircikara Police Station on December 25, 2018, and reported that his wife Elena Beyder had not returned home for about a month. Usluca claimed that his wife was a cancer patient, had psychological problems, and might have gone to her mother living in Russia. After research through the Russian Consulate revealed that Elena Beyder was not in Russia, Usluca suggested she might have gone to Istanbul, stating during the application that he was not complaining about anyone.
In the investigation conducted by law enforcement teams, it was determined that Elena Beyder entered Turkey from Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport on February 12, 2018, but had no exit record from the country. Although a yellow notice was issued by the Interpol General Secretariat, the woman could not be reached.
CAR SOLD 5 DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT In the investigations, it was found that the Opel car with license plate 06 BA 4003 registered in Elena Beyder's name was sold by Mehmet Erkan Usluca on November 29, 2018, using the power of attorney in his possession. It was determined that the woman's mobile phone was actively used until November 24, 2018, but after that date, it was turned on and off on certain days and times. It was recorded that the phone last gave a base signal from the Manavgat district on May 26, 2019, and Usluca moved his residence to Manavgat on February 7, 2019. The indictment stated that it was assessed that Elena Beyder's phone was used by the defendant for this reason.
CALLED THE BANK IMITATING HIS WIFE'S VOICE As a result of examining Elena Beyder's bank account movements, it was determined that 13,200 lira was transferred via EFT to the defendant's brother's account on November 26, 2018, and a total of 2,300 lira was withdrawn from the woman's account on December 3, 7, and 10. According to HTS records, two calls were made from Elena Beyder's phone line to a bank on November 25, 2018, at 14:06 and 15:35. The indictment included that examination of the audio recordings obtained from the bank showed that Mehmet Erkan Usluca made the calls and introduced himself as Elena Beyder by imitating her voice.
In his defense, the defendant Usluca said that due to debts, there were seizures in his own accounts, so he used the bank accounts of his brother, mother, and wife. Usluca explained that when he wanted to withdraw money from Elena's account, bank officials requested that the account holder call. He said, "I imitated my voice to Elena's voice, called the bank, and obtained the required information to withdraw the money. I sent this money to my own bank account, which I used but was registered in my brother's name."
DEFENDANT SAID "I SOLD IT 3 MONTHS LATER" BUT COULD NOT DECEIVE The indictment stated that the Opel car with license plate 06 BA 4003 registered in Elena Beyder Usluca's name was sold by Mehmet Erkan Usluca on November 29, 2018, 5 days after the incident date considered to be November 24, 2018, using the power of attorney in his possession. In his defense, the defendant gave a different account regarding the sale date, saying, "As far as I remember, I sold the Opel car I bought but registered in Elena's name about three months after the incident, using the power of attorney Elena had left with me."
SHOWED THE LOCATION OF THE BODY 7 YEARS LATER Within the scope of the investigation, a search was conducted at the defendant's address in Manavgat on June 19, 2025. No criminal elements were found in the search, while Mehmet Erkan Usluca and his brother R. U. were detained. Mehmet Erkan Usluca said during detention that he wanted to show where he buried his wife's body. Following the defendant's site demonstration, teams went to the forest area in Aksu district, Kumköy neighborhood on June 21, 2025. In the excavation carried out by municipal teams with a work machine, bone fragments and clothes considered to belong to the body were found. In the examination, 67 bone fragments, spine pieces, 2 teeth, and 2 nails, as well as various clothes, were found and sent to the Antalya Forensic Medicine Institute morgue.
To determine whether the bones belonged to Elena Beyder, DNA samples taken from her daughter M. U. were compared. In the report of the Forensic Medicine Institute Biology Department, it was determined that the remains belonged to M. U.'s biological mother with 99.99 percent probability.
FORENSIC MEDICINE CONTRADICTED THE DEFENSE In the report prepared by the Istanbul 1st Forensic Medicine Department, it was reported that the bone fragments showed multiple stab wound damage and fractures due to blunt, cutting, and crushing injuries. The report expressed the opinion that Elena Beyder's death resulted from stab wounds and cutting and crushing injuries.
ACCUSED HIS WIFE OF CHEATING In his defense, the defendant Mehmet Erkan Usluca stated that he met his wife in 2008, they got married after a while, and had a child. Usluca said they had arguments throughout their marriage, and claimed that on the day of the incident, he saw his wife's messages with other men, which led to a quarrel between them.
In his defense, Usluca said: “Until the day of the incident, I thought Elena was only cheating on me by messaging other men online. But on the day of the incident, I learned that Elena was also cheating on me in real life, outside the internet. My wife woke up at that moment and wanted to take the phone from me. However, when she realized I wouldn’t give it to her, she went to get a knife from the kitchen, just like in our previous arguments.”
“WE FELL TOGETHER, SHE HIT HER HEAD” Continuing his defense by claiming that Elena attacked him with a knife, Usluca said, “When I came out after her, we met in the hallway. There was an expression on her face I had never seen before. Elena attacked me with a knife. I grabbed her hand. I tried to take the knife from her and told her to calm down, that she was cheating on me, and that I was always being patient. Elena then said to me, ‘I will cheat on you with 10 more men, I will cheat on you with every man you know.’ At that moment, we fell together, and Elena hit her head hard. After I moved the knife away, I started talking to Elena again while I was on top of her. I thought Elena was listening to me, but after a while, I realized she had lost consciousness. Then I tried to revive her by splashing water on her face, but she didn’t wake up.”
HE DESCRIBED PUTTING THE BODY IN A SUITCASE AND BURYING IT IN THE FOREST Claiming that he considered calling the police but gave up because his daughter was 7 years old at the time, Usluca said he placed his wife’s body in a suitcase at home. Usluca stated, “After thinking about it for a day, I left the house on November 26, 2018, at around 7:00 AM. First, I went to Örnekköy Beach, then to a forested area in Kundu, where I buried my wife. I drove around until evening, contemplating whether to go to the police. Later, I went to Manavgat.” The defendant said he told his family that Elena had gone to Russia and explained to his daughter that her mother was in Russia for cancer treatment.
“I DID NOT INTENTIONALLY KILL MY WIFE” In the continuation of his defense, defendant Usluca said, “I did not intentionally kill my wife. She died accidentally as a result of falling to the ground while I was defending myself against her knife attack. Since I thought my daughter’s life would be seriously affected if I went to prison, I buried my wife at the location I showed to the authorities without notifying the relevant units. I had no intention of killing my wife, and I do not accept the allegations that I intentionally killed her. Even if I had not been detained, I would have surrendered one day. For this reason, I occasionally told my daughter things like, ‘One day I might leave too.’”
THE PROSECUTOR SOUGHT AGGRAVATED LIFE IMPRISONMENT In the indictment, it was stated that the defendant’s defense that his wife died from falling to the ground contradicted the sharp-force injuries and fractures caused by blunt, cutting, and crushing instruments found on the bones. Considering that the defendant’s defense was aimed at escaping the crime, it was alleged that he killed Elena Beyder by injuring her with sharp-force and blunt instruments during an argument triggered by jealousy.
The indictment noted that the defendant’s defense that his wife died from falling to the ground during a knife attack did not align with the findings in the forensic medicine report. Emphasizing that the bones showed damage from multiple sharp-force injuries and fractures from blunt, cutting, and crushing instruments, the indictment assessed that the defendant’s defense was aimed at evading the crime and sought the punishment of the defendant for the crime of “intentionally killing his wife, a woman.”
Mehmet Erkan Usulca, the defendant being tried in custody, appeared before the judge at the second hearing held at the Antalya 4th Heavy Penal Court. During the hearing, where lawyers from both sides were present, the public prosecutor presented his opinion on the merits and requested that Mehmet Erkan Usluca be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for the crime of “intentionally killing his wife and a woman,” and that the time spent in detention and custody be deducted from his sentence.
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