Turkish man declared ‘sane’ after killing girlfriend with sword

İZMİR

A Turkish man could be jailed for life after a team of medical experts found that he had criminal capacity when killing his girlfriend with a sword. 

Günhan Öztürk, 26, had assaulted his girlfriend Zülal Tütüncü, a 21-year-old university student, at his house in the western province of İzmir’s Bornova district in December 2017.

The young woman had died after Öztürk stabbed her neck and shoulder with his father’s sword.

Öztürk, who declined to reveal his motivation in the killing, has been on trial at the 6th Heavy Penal Court in İzmir since then as prosecutors seek an aggravated life sentence for murder.

Demirören News Agency reported Feb. 19 that the case will continue as the Istanbul Forensics Institution experts reported the court that Öztürk had full criminal liability.

The killer’s attorneys had suggested that he was not “sane,” demanding him to be moved from the prison to a mental institution.

The court rejected the defense’s objection in the latest hearing and ruled for the continuation of Öztürk’s arrest as the legal procedure progresses.