THE TEENAGE daughter of an Irish woman killed in Turkey has told a court in Izmir the man accused of the killing “got on like a house on fire” with her mother.
Shannon Graham was giving evidence at a pre-trial hearing where Recep Cetin (22) and his father Eyup Cetin (43) are accused of the murder of Marion Graham (54) and her friend Cathy Dinsmore (53).
The victims, from Newry, Co Down, were stabbed to death and their bodies were found in woodland near Izmir, 60 miles (97km) north of their holiday apartment in Kusadasi, on August 19th last year.
Ms Dinsmore was stabbed 35 times and Ms Graham 17 times.
Prosecutors allege Shannon’s ex-boyfriend, former waiter Recep Cetin, killed the pair after they confronted him about his relationship with Shannon.
During the first stage of the case last December, Eyup Cetin was arrested outside court and has also been charged in connection with the murders.
He denies the charges.
Giving evidence yesterday, Shannon Graham, who was 15 when the killings happened, denied Recep Cetin had proposed to her or that they had plans to live in Ireland together.
She said Recep wanted her to live in Turkey with him but she had resisted the offer.
She said she first met Eyup Cetin when he came to the Grahams’ holiday home in Kusadasi with his son.
Eyup Cetin visited the home several times but they did not talk to each other often because he did not speak English, she said.
Ms Dinsmore’s brother George also spoke at the hearing.
He said he did not believe Recep Cetin was the only person involved and claimed that if Eyup Cetin were to be released, it would pose a potential threat to the public.
Eyup Cetin was questioned about inconsistencies in his statement to police.
He explained he was illiterate and said the inconsistency between DNA evidence showing his son’s age to be 22 rather than 17, as he had previously stated, was due to a delay in registering his son’s birth.
Eyup Cetin was asked by one of the judges whether he knew either of the victims, and he said he knew Ms Graham, despite having stated previously to police that he did not know either woman.
When asked how he became aware of the murders, Eyup Cetin said he found out from the police after he was questioned by them. Recep Cetin did not appear in court for the preliminary hearing yesterday due to an administrative error.
Earlier in the hearing, Shannon Graham was accused of playing a part in the killing, a claim later rejected by family lawyers.
Necmettin Cetin, a defence witness and brother of Recep Cetin, claimed Shannon Graham assisted in the killings of the two women.
He told the judges Marion Graham owed money to people locally and they were linked to the fatal stabbings, and to Shannon’s involvement.
However, Baris Kaska, the lawyer representing the Graham and Dinsmore families, rejected the claims, saying: “We do not take these accusations by Necmettin Cetin seriously and I don’t think the court did either.
“Shannon is aware he accused her of taking part but she does not take this as a serious accusation.
“There were no details in the allegation and I think it was a tactic to complicate the case and take the focus away from the accused. I’ve seen this happen before. It was obviously a tough and very tiring day for the family.”
Shannon Graham, now 17, was joined by her brother David (33) in court yesterday.
The case has been adjourned until September 14th for examination of records of the defendants’ phone exchanges between July 18th and August 16th last year.