Mother Murdered In Turkey For Resisting Kiss: Prosecutors

Mother Murdered For Resisting Kiss: Prosecutors
FILE - In this image from files provided by the family, Sarai Sierra is shown in an undated family photo, in New York. The New York City woman who went missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul was found dead on Saturday and police detained nine people for questioning in connection with her case, Turkey's state-run news agency said. Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to board her flight back home. Her disappearance attracted a lot of interest in Turkey, where such disappearance of foreign tourists are rare and Istanbul police had set up a special unit to find her. (AP Photo/Family Photo, File)
FILE - In this image from files provided by the family, Sarai Sierra is shown in an undated family photo, in New York. The New York City woman who went missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul was found dead on Saturday and police detained nine people for questioning in connection with her case, Turkey's state-run news agency said. Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to board her flight back home. Her disappearance attracted a lot of interest in Turkey, where such disappearance of foreign tourists are rare and Istanbul police had set up a special unit to find her. (AP Photo/Family Photo, File)

Murder suspect Ziya Tasali who was caught on Sunday near the Turkey-Syria boarder after being on the run for more than a month told prosecutors that the incident started with an attempted kiss. He tried to kiss Sierra when she was walking by the Old City walls but the attempt was not received warmly, "She resisted me, and a struggle broke out between the two of us," Tasali said. Authorities later determined that Sierra had died of a blow to the head.

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Sarai Sierra

Sarai Sierra

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