Kennedy Taomwabwa Dede murder trial: Suspect claims he was offered money and a house to claim responsibility for the murder

The murder trial of 28-year-old Nigerian university student Kennedy Taomwabwa Dede, who was beaten and taken to Çanakkale Pond, in the outskirt of Famagusta after being abducted from his home by force in January 2018, resumed at Famagusta High Criminal Court on Wednesday.

During court proceedings, Senior Prosecutor Mustafa İldeniz questioned Nidai Şanlı, (the gang leader and prime suspect in the murder case) who has been in jail for 2 years, about the murder.

Nidai Şanlı who denied his involvement in the murder was brought back to court on Wednesday where he accused a police officer in charge of his investigation of writing his voluntary statement and not correcting the errors in the statement, although he told him to correct the mistakes in his statement.

Şanlı said,

I did not know the procedure. They gave a very short word in the first hearings. However, for the first time after 28 months, I came across the Qur'an and had the opportunity to tell the truth. I am not guilty. Ozan Körtkurt, Onur Körkurt and Simge Dağdur caused the death of the victim.

Lawyers representing the other accused denied his claims.

At the Famagusta Assize Court, which consists of Mayor Fatma Şenol, Senior Judge Ayşen Toroslu and Judge Hazan Aksun, Senior Prosecutor Mustafa İldeniz, who carried out the case on behalf of the prosecutor's office, sent the defendant Nidai Şanlı, who gave sworn testimony, for 2 days, after 4 lawyers. it firmly restrained.   

Senior Prosecutor Mustafa İldeniz said Nidai Şanlı, who complained that there was errors in his voluntary statement gave it with free will and his claims that he had not been able to express these errors in the court until today due to his inexperience were not true as the statements have been confirmed.   

Mustafa İldeniz went on to accuse Nidai of guiding and instigating the other 4 defendants like a team commander, asked the Turkish police and the court to deliberately hide the evidence so that the facts will not be revealed, and asked Şanlı for genuine and honest answers.

Five of you beat and killed together, he said to the Nidai.

Together, the five of you put an end to Dede's life by beating him up, badly. You killed Dede brutally.

He accused Nidai Şanlı of telling stories to the court, not facts.   

You are not telling the facts. What you say is far from the truth, hard to believe Story.    You cannot save yourself and your nephew Zekeriya from this issue by choosing Ozan, Onur and Simge as your scapegoat.

You told the facts in your own voluntary statement, and you read and signed each page. Statement, evidence and sworn testimony in court by B.Ç. and the statements of other witnesses confirm each other.

Why are you spinning now? Because you're on your way to conviction? You organized the other defendants. You commanded, they executed. You pursued what he would receive and forcibly removed him from his house against his will.

You beat the deceased together with Ozan, Onur and Zekeriya like a boom and stuck him the car and took him to the pond.   

The five of you, along with Simge and others whom you instigated in the pond, took a brutal end to Dede's life. You beat and killed.   

You went home and ate pizza together, machine-washed shoes and clothes with marks on them twice. You slept well, the next day, when you saw his dead body, you went to the border, you were the first to flee.   

Professionally, you broke the crime electroshock device and threw it into the reeds at SBA.   

You left your vehicle with your passport inside, wet seats, and traces of mud and blood in the South.     

You came back because you ran out of money in the South, you were desperate, you could not buy a ticket, you could not get help from your family.     

You confessed to YK, from whom you asked for help, “You beat it badly. You dismiss your confession in your voluntary statement. To escape conviction, you are trying to isolate Zechariah and yourself from the incident. 

The Senior Prosecutor continued;

You got the biggest role in the story. You are the reason for the incident to begin. You all killed Dede. Your unlawful actions caused Dede's death, he concluded.

They offered me money and a house to take the blame    
Nidai Şanlı, who has been subjected to strict interrogation for a total of four sessions, responded to all allegations with the same tone of voice, calmly and politely.   

It was also not overlooked that Nidai Şanlı, who was sick of the court and asked for a break, gave evasive answers by saying "I don't remember exactly what was spoken.

Nidai Şanlı claimed that he did not correct Erkan Yahat, an experienced investigative officer, who wrote the voluntry statement, although he told him to correct the mistakes in his statement and said,

I did not know the procedure. They gave a very short word in the first hearings. However, after 28 months, I stepped onto the Koran and had the opportunity to tell the truth. I am not guilty. Ozan Körtkurt, Onur Körkurt and Simge Dağdur caused the death of Grandfather.

Simge hit the victim's head twice with a stone”.    

Şanlı said that he went to the lakeside after the incident because of his girlfriend's curiosity, and reiterated that he saw the body of Dede there before going to Southern Cyprus because of panic, and when he had a passport and the opportunity to go to any European country, he returned to the court to tell the truth.   

Şanlı said:  

I did not encourage anyone. I didn't organize either. I gave up on what I would buy. Honor wanted the money. I experienced what happened that evening. I'm telling you what happened. I'm telling facts, not stories.   

Shock device was broken, I was using it for its flashlight. When the lantern broke I threw it in SBA. Even the police could not find it, I showed its location. If I wanted to run away, I would run away. I turned to clear myself up. I had money and passport in my pocket.   

I did not hit Dede in the apartment, nor did Zechariah. I just slapped him in the face because Dede hit my arm in the pond.

Upon questioning, Nidai Şanlı claimed that he was threatened by the other defendants and claimed that he was offered money and a house to take the crime on himself and he did not accept it.   

After the senior prosecutor finished the appeal, he declared that he had other witnesses to the court and asked for time.   

The court postponed the hearing until tomorrow to hear from where it left off.