New DNA findings after 26 years in the murder of Çağla Tuğaltay

In the murder of 15-year-old Çağla Tuğaltay, who was stabbed to death in her home in Şişli, Istanbul, on June 5, 2000, a new forensic finding that could change the course of the investigation was reached after 26 years. In the file, which was re-examined by the Homicide Bureau teams under the coordination of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the findings obtained on the day of the incident and the preserved clothes of Çağla Tuğaltay were re-examined using developing forensic technologies.

According to the news by Mustafa Şekeroğlu from Habertürk, in the examination carried out by the Forensic Medicine Institute, biological samples belonging to a foreign man were detected in two different parts of the shorts Tuğaltay was wearing on the day of the incident. It was determined that one of the DNA samples was found in the elastic at the waist of the shorts and the other in the leg section.

The most critical finding of the investigation emerged as a result of comparing these DNA profiles with the male DNA profile obtained from Çağla Tuğaltay's nails in 2013. It was determined that all three samples belonged to the same man.

Thus, a total of three DNA samples belonging to the same man were detected in the murder file, on Çağla Tuğaltay's nails and on two different points of her clothing. It is considered that the DNA profile on the nails is an important finding that Tuğaltay may have fought with the attacker.

DNA traces found on the waist and leg sections of the shorts also raised the possibility that the attacker may have made direct contact with the clothing.

After Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek met with Çağla Tuğaltay's family, the file was re-examined within the scope of re-examination of the unsolved murder files. Homicide Bureau teams deepened the investigation based on the DNA profile obtained.

In this context, a rediscovery was made at the address in Şişli Fulya where the murder took place. Suspect and witness statements taken in the past were re-evaluated in the light of new findings. While burial procedures were carried out for some people who lost their lives, DNA samples were taken from the living suspects and related people and comparisons were made.

The teams continue their work to determine who the DNA profile identified in the investigation, which has been carried out as an unknown perpetrator for 26 years, belongs to.