She was killed by being strangled with pantyhose! The grieving family, upon hearing the verdict, was overwhelmed with tears in the courtroom.

Last year in Istanbul, Seçil Çiftçi (26), the suspect in the murder of Semih Sevim (40), who was strangled with a pair of tights with his hands and feet tied, was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, and his father Cemal Çiftçi was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command received a tip-off that an unidentified male body, whose hands and feet were tied and who was strangled with a pair of tights, was found in a forest in Sancaktepe on January 1, 2023. Gendarmerie crime scene investigation teams determined that the identity of the male body, which was noticed by a family who went mushroom picking, belonged to Semih Sevim based on his fingerprints. After the initial examination, contact was made with his family. It was determined that Sevim resided in Tokat, but his family reported him missing because they hadn't heard from him.

FORMER GIRLFRIEND REVEALED AS THE KILLER

The testimonies of the people Semih Sevim met in Istanbul, his social media accounts, and the license plate recognition system (LPRS) were used to determine his communication and movement before the murder. Gendarmerie teams conducted simultaneous searches at 4 different addresses for those suspected in the incident. They became suspicious of Seçil Çiftçi, his former girlfriend, due to her contradictory statements. When it was determined that she had threatened Semih Sevim through her social media accounts, the teams also found drugs at her house and detained Seçil Çiftçi. In her statement, Çiftçi confessed that she killed her ex-boyfriend Semih Sevim during a fight that broke out between them because he continued to disturb her, and then she and her father Cemal Çiftçi left the body in the forest in Sancaktepe. Seçil and her father Cemal Çiftçi were arrested at the court hearing.

FATHER SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT

A trial was opened at the Istanbul 19th Heavy Penal Court against Seçil and her father Cemal Çiftçi on charges of 'premeditated murder', and aggravated life imprisonment was requested for Seçil Çiftçi. In the final hearing of the trial, Seçil Çiftçi was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, and her father Cemal Çiftçi was sentenced to life imprisonment.

"WE WERE VERY EMOTIONAL WHEN THE VERDICT WAS ANNOUNCED"

Fatih Sevim (45), the brother of Semih Sevim, who attended all the hearings at the Istanbul 19th Heavy Penal Court, said, "The trial has concluded, Seçil Çiftçi has been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, and her father Cemal Çiftçi has been sentenced to life imprisonment. We attended all the trials in Istanbul during this process. We gathered all the evidence. We presented our evidence to the court. It has eased our pain, even if only a little. We still miss my brother and love him very much. May he rest in peace. We were very emotional when the verdict was first announced. We couldn't hold back our tears. Hopefully, they will rot in there."