A £10,000 reward is now on offer for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of torturing and murdering his love rival in a brutal attack before fleeing the country.
A Brutal Feud Over a Woman
The charity Crimestoppers is pleading for anonymous information that could locate Ceyhan Dinler, 38. Dinler is believed to have fled to his native Turkey in November 2024 after the killing of Cumali Turhan, 45, in Chelmsford, Essex.
A court heard the murder stemmed from a feud over a woman. Dinler allegedly discovered that Mr Turhan was in a secret relationship with his girlfriend. The pair were captured on CCTV having a heated discussion in The Globe pub in Chelmsford in the early hours of 19 November 2024, shortly before the attack.
Horrific Details of the Attack Emerge
The attack that followed was of extreme brutality. Prosecutors believe Dinler lured Mr Turhan to the Barista bar on Duke Street, just a minute's walk from the local police station.
During the horrific assault, Mr Turhan was tortured. The tip of his tongue and part of his genitals were cut off and dumped in a bin. Bruising indicated his tongue was forced out and cut while he was still alive. He was then fatally stabbed in the neck.
Detectives later found the victim's blood on the ceiling of the bar and a bloody fingerprint belonging to the suspect on a table. Mr Turhan's body, placed in a bin, was unknowingly taken by refuse workers to a landfill site in Colchester.
A 47-Day Search and a Plea for Justice
Essex Police conducted a 47-day search of the landfill before recovering Mr Turhan's body. Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe stated: "We stopped at nothing to find Cumali's body, so we could return him to his loved ones. And we are putting that same level of commitment into locating Ceyhan Dinler."
In October, Ciprian Ilie, 44, was jailed for seven years for assisting in the suspected murder and preventing the decent burial of Mr Turhan's body by helping to place it in the bin.
Phil Breckton, eastern regional manager at Crimestoppers, guaranteed total anonymity to anyone who comes forward: "If you contact our charity to tell us where Dinler is located, no-one will ever know. Cumali Turhan's family in Turkey and here in the UK are desperate for answers and need justice."
The case was featured in a Channel 4 documentary, "Catching a Killer: Buried Truths", which aired the chilling CCTV footage. The £10,000 reward offer will expire on 6 April.
