The shocking defense of a husband who stabbed his wife to death in Izmir: "I killed her by accident."

On December 25, 2023, around 05:00 in the Vatan neighborhood of the Karabağlar district in İzmir, a dispute arose between Kayhan Barbak (39), who returned home after drinking with his friends, and his wife Zehra Barbak (37) due to "jealousy." In the escalating argument, Kayhan Barbak fatally stabbed Zehra Barbak with a knife he took from the kitchen. The perpetrator, who was caught by the police with the murder weapon, stated that he committed the murder due to "jealousy." After his procedures at the police station, Kayhan Barbak was arrested at the courthouse where he was brought, and in his statement to the prosecutor's office, he said that they had argued with his wife and that he took the knife because he was very drunk, but he did not remember stabbing his wife. A case was opened against Barbak for "intentional murder of his spouse," seeking aggravated life imprisonment.

"KAYHAN HAD A PROBLEM WITH ALCOHOL"

The trial of Kayhan Barbak continued at the İzmir 22nd High Criminal Court. The detained defendant Barbak, along with the lawyers of both parties and members of the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, were present in the courtroom. Witnesses were heard during the hearing.

Zehra's stepfather, Rafet Özkan, stated that the defendant had a problem with alcohol, saying, "I met Kayhan through my wife. I have known him for 2-3 years. He had a serious accident. I took care of him for 4.5 months in my home. I cleaned up after him. While he addressed me as brother and father, he treated me poorly. I would take him outside in a wheelchair. I did these things because my wife asked me to. Zehra is my wife's second daughter. Recently, she had started coming home mostly drunk. I told her not to drink, but she did not listen. We had a small argument. We had a dispute. Then he said, 'We will go to our home.' I did the repairs on their house, I did not ask for money. I helped. There was a stain in the milk, but there was none on Zehra. She was honest, polite, and hardworking. There was absolutely no infidelity. Zehra was also uncomfortable with Kayhan drinking." he said.

CALLED HER SISTER AND SAID "I KILLED ZEHRA"

Zehra's mother, Naime Özkan, who testified while crying in court, said, "He planned and intentionally killed my daughter. After the incident, he called her sister and said, 'I killed Zehra, come take the child.' He cannot slander my daughter. May the hand that held the knife be severed from its root. May that hand not hold me away from my child." she stated.

"I KILLED HER BY ACCIDENT"

After Özkan's testimony, the defendant Kayhan Barbak defended himself, saying, "I had a traffic accident and was in prison for a year. My psychology deteriorated. I wanted to go home because I was disturbed by Rafet's actions. After celebrating the year 2023, we went home. A female acquaintance had gifted my wife a necklace. However, I started to set myself up. I began to check their phones. I saw Rafet's messages. I did not do anything intentionally. I saw Rafet's message, 'Is Kayhan at home?' Then we fought. I was not well, and I was also using alcohol. I went to a psychiatrist and started taking medication. This is how the incident occurred. My wife and I loved each other very much. I did not understand how it happened all of a sudden. It was an accident." he stated.

After the defendant's testimony, an interim decision was announced. The panel decided to continue the defendant's detention and to address the deficiencies in the file, and postponed the hearing to March 21, 2025.