Man charged in Turkey double murder

A man has been charged in connection with the murder of two women from the North who were on holiday in Turkey.

Marion Graham and her friend Kathy Dinsmore, both aged in their 50s and from County Down, were stabbed to death in woods near the city of Izmir. As well as the multiple stab wounds, numbering up to fifteen, their throats had been cut.

The Turkish boyfriend of Ms. Graham's 15 year-old daughter, Shannon, has appeared in court over the murders.

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Recep Cetin has allegedly confessed to killing Graham and Dinsmore, after he was refused permission to marry Shannon.

The suspect, also known as Alex, works at a restaurant in the popular tourist resort of Kusadasi. Original reports claimed he was 17, but Turkish police have confirmed there was now doubt surrounding his actual age with more reports suggesting he is 21.

Cetin appeared at a preliminary hearing in Turkey on Friday and is currently being held at Izmir prison.

It is alleged that he took Dinsmore and Graham to the secluded wooded area and murdered them there.

The two friends had been holidaying at the resort of Kusadasi, about 100 kilometers from Izmir.

Shannon was on a boat trip when the murders took place. She reportedly alerted local police when she arrived home and could not get in touch with her mother.

Prayers were said over the weekend both in the North of Ireland and Turkey for the two women and their families.

Relatives of both women have flown out to Turkey and arrangements are continuing to repatriate the bodies of the two women later this week.

 

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