Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Turkish Serial Killer: Hamdi Kayapinar

Hamdi Kayapınar (born 1979) isa Turkish serial killer who dubbed himself as "Avcı"("The Hunter"). In his youth, he strangled his youngersibling to death. Later, he killed six other people, and wassentenced to life in prison. In 2017, after 16 years of imprisonment,he was released on probation. In 2018, he was arrested on charges ofkilling his eighth victim, and pleaded guilty to it.

Early life

Hamdi Kayapınar was born in theErenköy neighborhood of the Melikgazi district in Kayseri Province,Turkey, in 1979. He had three siblings, and earned his livelihood bycollecting scrap. In 2001, he was living with his mother and sisterin a shack along the city water canal in Kayseri's YıldırımBayezıt neighborhood.

First murder

In 1994, at the age of 14, he committedhis first murder by strangling his one-year younger sibling with acord on the grounds of jealousy, as he believed his parents liked hissibling more than they liked him. He was imprisoned, but wasreleased on probation after four years.

Six more victims

In 2002, he was arrested and accused ofkilling six people, namely Yaşar Sezer, Ali Aras, Abdullah Aslan,Memiş Dinçaslan, İbrahim Genç, and Cafer Şahin, and woundingfour others with the intention to kill, including Bedrettin Duvar,and police officer İlhan Duruş, between March 1998 and February2001.

On the night of 30 March 1998,businessman Yaşar Sezer (46) was shot dead by a single bullet in theback of the neck in front of his home. His body was found the nextmorning in the nearby water canal. His money and wristwatch had beenstolen. About one year later, around midnight, in April 1999,İbrahim Aydemir (37) was shot as he was riding a bicycle along thecanal to his home. He was hit by a shotgun, and severely wounded. Theattacker left him, although he noticed that his victim was not dead.Three days after the attack on Aydemir, a worker, Bünyamin Selvitop(25), was shot in the same area at midnight. He was only wounded. Theattacker left the scene. One week after the attack on Selvitop, thebody of Memiş Dinçaslan (52) was found in the canal. His money hadbeen stolen. The residents around the canal dubbed the perpetrator"Kanal canavarı" ("The Canal Monster"). Police officer İlhan Duruş was shot and severely wounded in the legwhile chasing a suspect on foot. The attacker apparently shot at hispolice car and fled. However, the police were able to identify him asa 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)-tall, slim man in his twenties.

No crime happened in the area for thenext two years. Towards the end of 2000, İbrahim Genç, thenightwatchman of a gas station located along the canal, was founddead by the employees. He had been shot at close range and hisvaluables had been taken. A murder attempt occurred one month later.Shortly before midnight on 31 January 2001, Bedrettin Duvar (47), acoal trader, was shot by an attacker wielding a shotgun on his returnhome. The perpetrator ran away, as he saw the victim was onlywounded. A couple of days later, three bodies were found along thecanal. Cafer Şahin and Abdullah Aslan had been shot in the neck.Construction worker Ali Araz was shot dead in the chest by shotgun.Again, the victims' valuables were missing. The perpetrator had lefta shell casing at the scene, which became important evidence for thepolice.

Police investigation

A few days after the murder of YaşarSezer, in April 1998, Kayapınar was arrested together with hisbrother, Ümit Kayapınar, after the two confessed to the robbery ofa hunting equipment shop. They served four months in prison. However,the police could not link them to Sezer's murder.

In 2001, the Kayseri Police homicidedepartment sought advice in Ankara from Robert W. Taylor, lecturer ofcriminal law at the University of North Texas, and his colleagueEdward Huesken, on the matter of methods of investigation of serialkillers. Further investigations revealed that the five attackscommitted over the past two years were centered in a 10 km (6.2mi)-long area along the canal. Police speculated that the perpetratormust have lived close to the canal and so know the area very well.Kayapınar was the only suspect from that area, who was absent duringthe 19 months when no crimes were committed. During this period, hehad been in Çanakkale for his compulsory military service. He hadbeen interrogated right after the wounding of police officer Duruş,but had been released due to lack of evidence.

Arrest

In 2001, the police raided Kayapınar'shome in a midnight action. However, Kayapınar was able to escapebarefoot. The police found a pair of bloodstained trousers on whichthe blood matched the DNA of the last victim, Cafer Şahin.Kayapınar's sister, who said that he had threatened her with death,showed the police the place where the shotgun was buried.Surprisingly, Kayapınar appeared at the police station the nextmorning asking why he was wanted. After he was confronted with theevidence, he began to talk.

At the time of his arrest, Kayapınarasserted that he developed resentment towards people because he hadbeen marginalized by his family and the community after his releasefrom prison. He dubbed himself "Avcı" ("TheHunter"), his victims as "av" ("prey"),and the money or goods he usurped as "ganimet"("bounty").

Trial and conviction

During the trial in 2001, Kayapınartold the judge and the court that he won the bet he had made withanother serial killer, Seyit Ahmet Demirci, on the number of peoplekilled. In 2002, Kayapınar was sentenced to 169 years and 7 monthsin prison, which amounted to two life imprisonments, 12 1/2 years forstealing the victims' money, and 16 years for causing injury.

Kayapınar was kept in solitaryconfinement for two years. After serving his sentence in the closedprisons in Kayseri and Sivas, he was transferred to a semi-openprison in Ankara in accordance with the old Law on Incarceration.When he did not return to the prison following an official freedaytime leave, he was treated as an escapee due to on-leaveviolation. In February 2016, he was caught in the house of a relativeat Talas, Kayseri. He was tried and incarcerated in the closed prisonin Kayseri. Kayapınar was released on probation in February 2017.

Eighth murder

On 2 August 2018, retired specialistsergeant Sami Yılmaz (47), who was on duty as the security guard ofa villa in Kayseri, was attacked and killed with a shotgun in hiscabin by an unknown man who wore a balaclava and gloves. Theperpetrator arrived by bicycle. He stole the guard's handgun and someother valuables before escaping. A special police team identified themurderer as Kayapınar, after viewing 950 hours of MOBESE (Turkishfor "Mobile Electronic System Integration") publicsafety CCTV camera footage. The perpetrator rode a red bicycle, as hehad done during his previous crimes. On 7 August, Kayapınar wasarrested and a search in his home uncovered the balaclava, gloves,two handguns that he had stolen from the guard, the shotgun used asthe murder weapon, and 83 shotgun shells. Kayapınar pleaded guilty.He said that he planned the crime over a period of three days andkilled the guard because "he liked his gun".