24/05/12….’I’ve cut them in their sleep’: Murder case witness claim

THE husband of a Thame woman, murdered alongside her married daughter, has today been describing the night the man accused of their killing came banging on the door of his shop with a knife in his hand.

Thame Pizza Parlour owner, Mehmer Sahin, with his wife, victim Julie Sahin, shared a home in Ireton Court, Thame, with Julie?s daughter, Michala and her husband, the accused, Ensar Gol. Mehner described how relations between the mother-in-law and her new son-in-law had been turbulent from the start, Julie not happy with his ?macho attitude to women,? and at one time had called Gol ‘a psycho’. He went on to describe how Ensar tried to dominate Mickala, ?telling her she can?t do this, mustn?t go there.? But Michaela was ?a free spirit,? continued Mehmer. The couple?s rows would often wake him up, he said.

THREATS

Ensar had become visibly more jealous lately, continued Mehmer, since he had discovered that Michaela had been in touch with an old flame in Turkey, and had said to him (Mehmer) that he ?might end up killing them (Julie and Michaela)?. He had not taken this, and two other similar threats seriously, he explained because: ?Lads in Turkey say these things to show they are a big man.?
He had been puzzled by a question posed earlier in the evening by a quiet and ?slightly drunk? Ensar, who had called in briefly at the Pizza Parlour, with the news that his grandfather had died: ?If he, (Ensar) Julie and Michaela disappeared, what would happen to the kids?? Mehmer said he told Ensar that they would probably stay with him.

BLOOD-STAINED TROUSERS

Mehmer Sahin continued with his evidence. Under questioning, he told the Prosecution Barrister, Dafydd Enoch, that the next time he saw Ensar was at around 2.30am the next morning when he was cashing up, and he heard Ensar kicking at the door, swearing at him to open it. ?He had a knife in his hand. I could see blood stains on his trousers. I opened the door and Ensar shouted: ?I?ve done it!?

DISPUTED EVIDENCE

Mehmer Sahin?s evidence was later thrown into doubt by the Defence Barrister, Richard Benson, who had suggested through questioning that Julia Sahin was herself prone to anger, and had thrown plates at her husband and on another occasion, had waved a knife around and threatened to kill Ensar Gol. Mehmer denied that any of this was true. ?It just didn?t happen,? he said.

Mr Benson suggested that in fact, the threats ?never happened? after Mehmer Sahin failed to satisfy him of the reasons why he, Sahin, had neither warned his wife of the threats made by Gol nor reported them to the police.

WITNESS IN TEARS

?We didn?t get a chance to talk to each other. I was working 80 hours a week,? he replied. Later, he read from his statement the following: ?I feel lost. The only thing that gets me up are the kids and their welfare. I want answers. I can?t think. The loss of my family and not being able to be with them in the same way ever again, hurts me.?

When asked why there were some inconsistencies between his statement to the police and his evidence today in court, he explained: ?I had not slept (when the statement was made) – I was lost. I was tired.?
Mehmer was visibly distressed at this point, while the accused sat unshaven, impassively, looking like a different man to the cocky individual who had grinned for the cameras after his court appearance on September 6, last year.

?I CUT THEM ALL IN THEIR SLEEP?

Today?s other witness was Ali Aka, who worked in the Pizza Parlour in Thame, and was working on the night Ensor Gol made his dramatic arrival. Aka claimed that it was he who let Gol into the shop after hearing him banging on the locked door. He said that when he asked Gol what he had done, Gol replied that he had ?cut them all.?

Aka then related a telephone call he heard Gol making outside the shop, still holding the knife, in which he said to his cousin: ?If someone is married to me, they must listen to me. I cut them all in their sleep. Don?t leave my kids here. (Sell everything?) Come and get my kids. If I get heavy sentence here, I will ask to be transferred to Turkey.? He then apparently repeated: ?Why don?t you believe me? I did cut them.?

CONFUSION OVER INTERPRETATION

There then followed a lot of debate over the whether the word ?cut? translated into Turkish, could mean ?to cut off contact with?, to actually cut someone or to ?butcher? someone, with questions from the Defence and Gol?s interpreter about the efficacy of Aka?s interpreter, adding to the confusion.

In the end the Judge, Mr Justice Supperstone, cleared the court for the day so that the lawyers could meet in Chambers to discuss the empasse.

The case resumes tomorrow at 10am

PHOTO: Ensar Gol

NB Reporting restrictions (some voluntary) have been applied to certain aspects of this case to protect the identity of any minor involved