‘Even if it were true, I would marry her all over again’: Husband of New York mother killed in Turkey says that claims she had an affair ‘doesn’t change anything’

Murdered: The body of Sarai, right, was found in Istanbul last week; her husband Steven (left) posted a series of cryptic messages online about cheating and relationships

Confusion: Steven Sierra left cryptic messages online about relationships and cheating

Troubled? On the day that his wife left for her solo trip to Istanbul, Mr Sierra posted this message

It was reported yesterday by MailOnline that her husband Steven posted a series of cryptic online messages about cheating and bad relationships in the weeks prior to her death.

Steven Sierra wrote on Instagram on December 28 last year: ‘Don’t cheat in relationship, if you are not happy then just leave.

‘A real relationship is where you can tell each other everything & anything. No secrets, no lies.’

On the day that Sarai left for her solo trip to Turkey on January 7, her husband wrote on Instagram: ‘Good relationship [sic] don’t just happen. They take time, patience and two people who truly want to be together.

On January 17, he added to his account: ‘People are to be LOVED. Things are to be USED. The reason why the world is in chaos is because THINGS are being LOVED and PEOPLE are being used.’

The friend – who has been following the case closely – expressed shock at the risky behavior of her life-long friend and that she would stay with Ammer Reduron in Amsterdam despite meeting him online just a few months ago.

‘It doesn’t really speak to how we were raised, she said. ‘But, like I said before, we grow, we change, we evolve. I would never imagine her being so trusting.

‘It does surprise me as a woman because my personal feeling is you should always be weary and on your guard. Not just in another country, but always.

‘There are people I’ve known for years online…I would never imagine meeting with any one of them alone.

‘Also, trusting an area you barely know? People you don’t know? Not scrapping one of the “side trips” to upgrade your lodgings to a safer neighborhood…Like I said, WAY too many to name.’

She did however, recognize that some of these risky decisions may come from a certain naivety on Sarai’s part.

‘I don’t think you can get enough information on the climate or culture from a few online searches, if anything, you’re going to get the rosy-colored pictures painted,’ she said.

‘From what I’ve read and seen [of Istanbul], the climate there for women is pretty unstable. And as someone who always looks to understand and educate themselves, there are areas where it behooves you to understand the bias’ that are felt towards a woman’s presentation…the way they dress, the way they look, if you can see their hair, if there is skin exposed, are you walking alone.’

Apartment complex: A lifelong friend of Sarai’s who lives in the same neighborhood as her in Staten Island, pictured, spoke exclusively to MailOnline about the rumors which have plagued her death since it was reported in the media

 

But she remembers that even in their idyllic childhood, Sarai had a rebellious streak in her and was always extremely adventurous, as other friends have attested to in previous interviews.

Yet her parents taught her to be careful: ‘In our little community, we ALL looked out for each other. No one went anywhere alone. We weren’t really allowed away from the block, and when we did, it was always as a group. Our parents were strict in that way.

‘Our parents knew each other and each was like a surrogate to each of the kids in the neighborhood. We were all constantly together. Sleep overs, BBQ’s, Trick or treating, Church…You name it.

‘Sarai had a great family, very religious, very close knit. They raised her to be herself and to be true to who she was. To love God, her family and see the value in everything. To be a good and humble person.’

Asked what she thinks happened to her close friend, she said: ‘Truth be told, it could be very likely these men [Sarai met online] were not involved in what happened to her.

‘I don’t think it was a woman either, I also don’t think it was a sex crime. My guess, is she was meant to be humiliated. Especially with the ‘leaks’. The guile in some of it.

‘ But I think what’s important to remember above all else is she was a mother, a sister, a daughter, an aunt and a wife.

‘What I remember most is her large eyes. They stick out to me the most in my memory. Big, bright and beautiful. I’d like to thank her for all the memories we had as children. I’ll hold them in my heart until the end of my days.’

Steven Sierra said in a interview withHurriyet last Sunday that he had not been in conversation with his wife since January 14.

The grieving father told the paper: ‘At the beginning we were talking on Skype. I was following the photos she put on Instagram. But times didn’t match because of the time difference. I was working when she is at the hotel [her flat]. The last time I heard from her was 14th of Jan. The next day she called home and spoke to the kids, I was at work that time.’

Emotional: Steven Sierra posted this message in the days before his wife was supposed to return home

The emotional and public declaration came five days before Mrs Sierra was scheduled to board a plane back to U.S. She never showed up for the flight. The young mother’s body was found next to the city walls on February 2.

The messages were revealed after it came to light that her husband alerted her alleged lover that Sarai was missing on the day she failed to return home.

Sarai Sierra’s husband frantically messaged the Turkish man since accused of having sex with her in a desperate plea for his help in finding her after she failed to return to New York, the New York Daily News reports.

The man identified as Taylan K told police that Steven Sierra logged onto one of his wife’s online accounts on January 22, the day she went missing, and discovered the pair’s recent communication.

Taylan ‘said that he hadn’t seen Sarai and the last time they met was on Sunday,’ his lawyer, Ozkan Polat, told the Daily News of that conversation.

‘And then he sent the husband copies of the earlier chats.’

Mr Sierra asked Taylan to contact local authorities in a bid to help find the 33-year-old mother of his two children allegedly unknowing that the man had had sex with her in a bar’s bathroom only the night before according to several local reports.

This latest twist comes amid new claims that the mother told the landlord of her rented apartment that she was unmarried in the days before her death

Investigations: Turkish police searched Sarai Sierra’s room and her travel bag, pictured. Authorities are trying to piece together the last moments of the American woman’s life. Sierra was found dead during a solo trip to Istanbul

Rest in peace: The coffin carrying the body of Sarai Stevens arrived in Staten Island from Istanbul on Thursday

Sorrow: The family are preparing for her burial under the intense glare of the media

Turkish authorities are now busy piecing together who Sarai of Staten Island met before her murder while suspecting she was possibly killed by a professional, the local Hurriyet newspaper reports.

Taylan K’s attorney claims that the man had ‘no emotional relationship’ with the woman though they had met twice before her death while planning to meet a third time the day she went missing.

Yigit Yetmez, owner of the flat in the down-and-out neighborhood of Tarlabasi, told Hurriyet that Sarai had told him she was ‘bekâr’ meaning ‘single’ or ‘a bachelorette.’

Taylan K has denied claims of having had sex with the slain woman, insisting they were just friends who met up for a cup of tea twice.

The woman was said to have met the man on Instagram a few months ago before her trip to Turkey and then met up with him several times while she was there.

Various Turkish media reports claimed they had sex in a bar restroom the night before she was murdered but that was the last time he had seen her.

Police said he was not a suspect.

Taylan’s lawyer, Ozkan Polat, said that his client denies the claims, calling them ‘wholly untrue’.

He insists the pair had ‘no emotional relationship’ and had met for a cup of tea as friends, adding that his client comes from a ‘good family and completed a master’s program abroad…He’s very demoralized’.

These claims came on Friday, one day after the body of Sarai arrived at her home in Staten Island.

Her devastated husband Steven and two children, aged nine and 11, are preparing for her wake and funeral on February 15.

It was also revealed that two women, and three foreign nationals including an Iranian, are among the 40 people being interrogated over the murder.

Turkish police took DNA samples from 22 people – none of which matched the crime scene – and are questioning a number of others.

They said there is a possibility Sarai fought against her attacker and left traces of the killer on her skin or under her fingernails.

As well as being bludgeoned over the head, she had extensive trauma to her torso, her right hip area and bruises on her arms, suggesting a struggle.

Istanbul authorities say the area where the mother-of-two was murdered is a known rape black spot in a run down part of the city.

A Swedish tourist was raped at knife point in the same place in January 2007, and in March 2010 a Japanese girl suffered a chillingly similar attack to Sarai’s murder when she was beaten about the head with a rock and raped, according to Turkish daily newspaper Takvim.

Grief: Steven refused to talk about the claims leaked to the media by Turkish police about her liaisons with a man named Taylan K

Another 24-year-old Turkish girl was attacked at knife point at the same spot but managed to fight off her attacker and flee to safety.

Since those attacks, Turkish police have installed extra lighting and CCTV in the area in a clearly-failed attempt to make it safer.

Taylan K has denied wrongdoing and said the two met on January 10 for the first time in Istanbul but he did not see her again until January 20 when she wrote to him: ‘I want to see you.’

The next day he missed two messages from her in the morning and when he tried to call, her phone was off.

Ozkan Polat, an attorney for Taylan, told the New York Daily Newsthat his client and Sarai made plans to meet again – near the Galata Bridge in Istanbul before her death. But she never showed up.

State Prosecutor Huseyin Kaplan said Taylan is not being considered as a suspect and authorities aren’t concerned about their alleged affair.

‘We’re not interested in whether she had a sexual relationship,’ Kaplan told the Daily News. ‘What’s important for us is who killed her.’

It was also reported today that police are questioning a rug dealer and hostel owner in the area where Sarai’s body was found after checking her phone and Gmail records, and have taken DNA records.

Meanwhile, Sarai’s family are preparing for her funeral under the intense scrutiny of the media.

Looking exhausted and with dark rings under his eyes, husband Steven Sierra, revealed the heart-wrenching moment when he informed the couple’s young sons of their mother’s tragic death.

Early mid-life crisis: Neighbours have said that Sarai may have decided to take her adventure because she married so young

He told reporters outside the funeral home: ‘They were distraught, very emotional, but I had to be honest with them.’

Steven, who flew from Turkey late on Wednesday night after helping local police, had refused to let anyone else tell their sons what had happened until he returned to the U.S.

The family will gather on February 15 at Christian Pentecostal Church, where Sarai and Steven had met, for the woman’s funeral.

Her wake will take place on Valentine’s Day – which would have been the couple’s 15th wedding anniversary.

The grieving husband added that he had been too overwhelmed with grief to read media coverage of the murder.

Steven was referring to reports published in Turkish newspapers this week that Sarai was seen with a second mystery man twice before her death – including the day she was supposed to fly home on January 21.

Police are also investigating whether she was involved with any criminal activity while in Turkey after she was seen with ‘a criminal element’.

Investigators said the 33-year-old was last spotted on surveillance tape wearing a coat and carrying a handbag, which were not found with her body, Turkish media reported.

It was also said that she was not wearing pants at the time and they were found ripped nearby, though police said there were no obvious signs of sexual assault.

Friends told MailOnline that the beautiful woman appeared nervous in the weeks leading up to her solo trip to Istanbul.

Heading home: A casket carrying the remains of Sierra is prepared to be loaded onto a flight at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday evening ahead of its flight to the U.S. on Thursday

Final journey: It is loaded onto a plane bound for New York at the Ataturk Airport on Thursday morning

Preparation: Her casket is carried through Beyoglu in Istanbul on Wednesday

‘Sarai had never been abroad before and she seemed more scared than excited when I last saw her,’ said a neighbor at the smart apartment block where Sarai lived with her husband Steve and their sons, aged nine and 11. 

‘When she first talked of going to Europe three months ago her eyes were alight with excitement. But as the time neared she seemed very nervous.

‘I’m not surprised really – I told her even experienced travelers worry. But I did say she was brave to go alone.’

Another neighbor, Juan Perez, said Sarai appeared to be devoted to her family. ‘She and Steve were together for ever. They married when she was 19. The boys were the light of their lives.

Claims: Turkey’s Vatan newspaper reported that Taylan had sex with the married mother of two

‘I was surprised when she said she was flying to Istanbul. It didn’t seem to be the sort of place most young women would want to go alone.

But when I asked if she was sure, she nodded. She did seem nervous.’

Other neighbors in the seven-story block, which overlooks Silver Lake and is a few minutes walk from the local golf club and an ice skating rink, speculated that Sarai could be having an early midlife crisis because she married and had her sons so young.

‘Did she want adventure? Yes she did,’ said one elderly woman. ‘But I really was surprised she was vacationing without her family. Istanbul is an exotic, expensive place.’

Sarai, who filed for bankruptcy on 2005, had been unemployed for several years but recently got a part time job at a chiropractor’s office.

Her 40-year-old husband is a New York City bus driver. He drives an old Safari mini bus and neighbors said money appeared tight. Sarai usually walked everywhere with the boys.

Her parents Dennis and Betzaida Jimenez, who also declared bankruptcy in 2005, live a five-minute drive away and often babysat while Sarai took time off from motherhood to go into Manhattan to take photographs.

She told her family she wanted to pursue her dream of taking pictures in Turkey – yet her only equipment was an iPad and Droid phone. Both items were missing when Sarai’s body was found but the murderer did not take her wedding ring or other jewellery.

Meanwhile, a witness has told Istanbul police that he saw Sierra speaking to a different man outside the city’s Sultanahmet Mosque on January 11, just days after she arrived in the country.

Scene: Her body was found stashed in this cave in the low-income district of Sarayburnu on Saturday

Theory: Police say she may have been murdered somewhere else and her body was then dumped

 

He handed her a card and as she left the mosque, she took a walk with him and four or five other men, the witness claimed, Turkish newspaper Milliyet reported.

Sierra flew to Amsterdam on January 15 and to Munich the next day, returning to Istanbul on January 19.

The witness said he then saw Sierra talking with the same man on January 21 at Topkapi Palace – the day she was due to fly home, but she never boarded the flight.

Sierra’s body was found stashed by Istanbul’s ancient city walls on Saturday, more than a week after she failed to catch her flight home.

Police said she died from a blunt force trauma.

Struggle: Sarai’s mother Betsy Jimenez sobs during a news conference at a friend’s home on Monday

Loss: Magdalena Rodriguez had planned to travel with Sierra, but dropped out due to financial reasons

She was found with a head wound and a blanket near her body and still had her earrings and a bracelet on, as well as her wedding ring.

According to sources who read the forensic report, the young mother also had extensive trauma to her torso, right hip area, bruises on her legs and a large chin wound.

To pay for her funeral, her family began selling some of her images online on Tuesday and soon had enough to cover her expenses.

Sarai was believed to have finished a course in photography just before she made the trip to Istanbul, which she said was to take pictures of the city and its ancient ruins.

‘Sarai’s passion for photography and love for capturing the beauty we see in culture, architecture and scenery was her reason for traveling to Istanbul,’ her brother, David Jimenez, wrote on the site.

He added on Friday: ‘Thank you for all the support in purchasing Sarai’s pictures. Quick update, all expenses for Sarai’s funeral have been paid for!

‘From here on out any picture of hers that you purchase will NOT be going towards her funeral. All funds will be going to her children. Thank you for your support. David.’

‘I’m heartbroken,’ Mr Sierra told the New York Daily News, earlier this week. ‘This is something you never want to imagine, and it’s something I’d never want anyone to experience.

‘You have so many plans, so many dreams with the person you deeply love.

‘You look forward to many years together and there are so many things you haven’t fulfilled with that person, and now those won’t be fulfilled.’

Tryst: She reportedly met the man, identified as ‘Taylan’, when he commented on her Instagram page

Stunning: Sierra’s family have put her photos, pictured, up for sale to cover her funeral expenses

Her mother, Betsy Jimenez, told the Today show: ‘It was such a shock when we heard. She was supposed to come back and she didn’t.

‘Her little boys do not know, their father will talk to them once he gets back. We will all be present for this.

‘It was the first time she was going overseas after getting into photography college.

‘She wanted to go there and take pictures of bridges and the history of the city.’

She was in regular contact with friends and relatives, and had told them she would visit Galata Bridge, which spans Istanbul’s Golden Horn waterway, to take photos.

CBS News reported that shortly after Sierra’s body was discovered, a woman came forward and told police she had seen a white car parked near the city walls as she was driving there ‘Tuesday night’, Anadolu also reported.

The eyewitness said a man was trying to remove ‘something’ from the car, at which point she caught a glimpse of a hand.

Turkish police released security camera footage showing the missing mother at a mall near her hostel hours before she disappeared.

Sierra can be seen eating lunch and walking through the mall on January 20 – a day before she was supposed to catch a flight back home.

Her family last heard from her on January 21, when she was supposed to start her journey home, but she never checked into her flight.

Last images: Sarai Sierra, a New York mother missing in Turkey, is seen on CCTV before she disappeared