12-year-old unsolved murder case in Trabzon was clarified

The searches carried out at that time for Mehmet Kaplan and Köksal Kol, who disappeared in Sürmene district on June 26, 2014, yielded no results. The Unsolved Crimes Investigation Department, established within the General Directorate of Criminal Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, reopened the file that remained unsolved for 12 years. Taking the file off the shelf, the public prosecutor and the homicide bureau teams deepened their investigation. Hava K., whose statement was taken as a witness on September 24, 2026 within the scope of the investigation, stated that her ex-husband Fikret B., who died in 2019, and the suspect Erkan Aydemir went to the village houses on the dates of the incident and bought pickaxes and shovels, and that her husband returned muddy and flustered. Havva K. also stated that her husband told their relatives that two people were killed and buried due to money issues and that the bodies were later moved to another place.

Following the new evidence and testimony obtained, police teams detained the suspects Erkan Aydemir and Ayhan Baysal. He confessed that he killed two suspects, Köksal Kol and Mehmet Kaplan, by shooting them in the back in the forest in the city due to a 'debt issue'.

Explaining the details of the incident in his statement to the police and prosecutor's office, Ayhan Baysal said that the suspect Erkan Aydemir stated that he owed money to the victims and asked for their help, and that they dug a hole in the forest in the Magmat Strait location that could accommodate 2 people. He stated that on the day of the incident, Aydemir killed Köksal Kol and Mehmet Kaplan, whom he brought to the area 2 hours apart, by approaching them from behind and shooting each of them in the head, and then buried their bodies in the hole opened. Baysal also stated that he thought the bodies were later moved to another place by Aydemir and Fikret B. In his confessions, Ayhan Baysal said that he thought that Erkan Aydemir and Fikret B. did not trust him after the incident and moved the bodies to another place, but he did not know the new place; The suspect also stated that Aydemir poured gasoline and burned the crime scene and that he was threatened with death if they told about this issue. The other suspect, Erkan Aydemir, denied the accusations against him.

Suspects Erkan Aydemir and Ayhan Baysal, who were referred to the courthouse after their procedures at the police station, were arrested and sent to prison for the crime of "Deliberate Murder" by the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace. It was stated that a large-scale investigation into the incident and efforts to locate the bodies are continuing.