Turkish doctor in US arrested for hiring hitmen

Razi Canikligil – NEW YORK

A 39-year-old Turkish doctor performing research on the COVID-19 virus in the United States has been arrested for hiring hitmen to kill a U.S. citizen, with his Turkish employee.

If found guilty, Serhat Gümrükçü, the owner of a lab named “Enochian BioSciences” in Los Angeles, and his lab’s information technology manager, Berk Eratay, 35, could face life sentences.

According to a statement by the U.S. Justice Ministry, a U.S. citizen, Gregory Davis, was kidnapped from his house in Vermont and killed.

His dead body was found kilometers away from his home on Jan. 7, 2018, with his hands cuffed and bullet holes in his chest and head.

In the first months of the investigation, two U.S. citizens were caught for being behind the murder. However, last week, Gümrükçü and Eratay were detained and then arrested by a court.

Local media indicated that the doctor hired the U.S. hitmen with the help of his employee.

The motive behind, or the connection between Gümrükçü and Davis was not mentioned by authorities.