Why Turkey Is Fascinated With Grisly Murder Trial

Man accused of killing parents, chopping them up, among other things
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 10, 2014 3:29 PM CDT
Why Turkey Is Fascinated With Grisly Murder Trial
A Turkish man is accused of murdering his parents; police have also suggested he killed his wife.   (Shutterstock)

Turkey is in the midst of what Vocativ calls its murder trial of the century. Kenan Oner is accused of murdering his parents, chopping them up, and burying them in their yard, all so he could get his inheritance early, police believe. Still missing is his wife, who hasn't been seen since 2005; police believe he killed her, too, hiding her remains in his apartment walls. He had recently discovered she was having an affair. And all this was after his murder conviction in the 1990s for killing a friend in France, also allegedly for money; he was sentenced to life but got out on parole after seven years. Oner, 56, was arrested in April, years after his parents disappeared in 2008 while he was living with them.

When police arrived at his apartment, he was sitting in the dark, they say. His question to them: "Did you dig the garden?" Despite long suspecting Oner, police couldn't find evidence to lead to charges—until they discovered the buried remains. They got help from Oner's own careful notes: For decades, he's recorded his actions by the hour, including a note around the time of his parents' disappearance that he had dug up their garden—and he also drew a map of the garden with an "X" marking one spot. Last year, Oner's son blamed his father for all three murders, per Turkish News Tuhaf. In Turkey, such calculated murders are rare, adding to the press fascination with the story, Vocativ notes. "I have not seen a similar criminal profile before," says an official. (Click to read about a Turkish killer who went on a TV dating show looking for love.)

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