The Turkish judiciary issued a pre-trial detention ruling against a husband suspected of killing his pregnant wife in the seventh month, as he threw her from the top of a mountain after taking romantic pictures with her.
Hakan Ayesal, 40, was arrested on charges of killing his wife Samra Aysal, 32, and their unborn child, while on vacation in the Butterfly Valley in the Turkish city of Mugla.
Prosecutors allege that Aysal brutally pushed his wife off a 300-meter-high cliff, with the aim of deceiving the insurance company and collecting an accident insurance policy.
Both the woman and her baby were killed on the spot, following the accident in June 2018.
The couple were taking pictures on the cliff, and the prosecution says the “accident” was in fact a murder by the husband.
According to the indictment prepared for the crime of “premeditated murder” against the husband, he planned for this crime in order to obtain a guarantee of about 50 thousand dollars from the life insurance company.
Prosecutors said the only reason they had sat on the top of the cliff for 3 hours was so that the husband could make sure that there was no one around.
Once he realized they were alone, he deliberately killed her by pushing her off the cliff, according to prosecutors.
The indictment also indicated that Aysal demanded payment of the insurance shortly after the accident, but his request was rejected when the investigation began.
The High Criminal Court in Fethiye ruled to return him to pretrial detention for premeditated murder.
In a video interview, the court heard the victim’s brother, Naim Yulko, who said, “When we went to the Forensic Institute to get the body, Hakan was sitting in the car. My family and I were destroyed, but Hakan did not look sad.”
He added, “My sister (the victim) was always against borrowing, but after her death we learned that she had 3 loans, from Hakan on my sister’s behalf. Also, Hakan had a fear of heights, what is the dangerous sport that he would do if he was afraid of heights?”
Asked about questionable premiums, Hakan Aysal said, “I’ve been interested in extreme sports since 2014, parachuting, bungee jumping, rafting. That’s why I had life insurance before marriage.”
Aysal was also asked about the clause in the personal accident insurance, which states that he is the only heir of his wife if she dies. He said, “I did not check that much. The banker arranged the papers. I brought the contract to my wife to sign it.
He denied responsibility for her death, saying: “After my wife picked up the phone, she put the phone in her bag. Later she asked me to give her the phone.
Source: The Sun