Family seeks Bitcoins of man who was killed for virtual currency in Turkey’s Antalya

ANTALYA

The family of the first Bitcoin victim in Turkey, who was killed in September, have been unable to locate traces of the virtual currency, which skyrocketed this month.

Şükrü Mert Ersoy, 22, was found dead in his car in the Mediterranean province of Antalya on Sept. 15. Following the investigation, officials stated Ersoy was killed after being beaten and suffocated.

Officials have said a total of five suspects were arrested after the murder, which was reportedly committed to obtain the victim’s password for Bitcoin transactions. Police have detected that the suspects killed him in order to scan his fingerprint and transfer the Bitcoins to their accounts. However, they failed to exceed the system’s security wall.

The murder of the young man has gone on the police record as the first “Bitcoin murder” in Turkey. However, nearly three months since the Bitcoin murder, a number of questions have been left unanswered. Bitcoin has hit record numbers since then, climbing from $8,000 to just below $12,000.

Meanwhile, Ersoy’s Bitcoins have also increased in value but this money is still missing. Ersoy’s mother, Sevgi Çınar, has said there were more than five responsible for his murder.

“My son had not been trading Bitcoin on his own, he had three more partners. But after my son’s death, no one took their testimonies. These partners know which among them killed my son. His partners know best regarding how much money he had. There are many questions that need to be asked,” she said.

Çınar also said she was not sure the murder was committed due to Bitcoin.

“Mert was reportedly killed for his Bitcoins, but we are not even sure about that. I knew that Mert was interested in Bitcoin, Bitclup and Elit Capital. But there is no one who knows how much money he has. Very high numbers are mentioned. If it is said to be around $40,000-50,000, then where is that money? On the other hand, Mert’s phone, computer, notebooks and personal items have not been given to us. Whether there is money in the middle of it all or not, it is unclear,” she added.