Man accused of murdering two County Down women to face bone marrow tests

Recep Cetin with Shannon Graham

The man accused of murdering two County Down women in Turkey earlier this year, has been ordered to take a bone marrow test in order to determine his age. If the accused, Recep Cetin, is subsequently proven to be over the age of 18, he will then be tried and sentenced in an adult court where he could face tougher sentencing. Otherwise he will face a juvenile court.

It is understood that letters from five local politicians, including Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy, had been presented to the judge urging him to order the test. Speaking before the hearing, Margaret Ritchie of the SDLP said; “I share the concerns of the families who want to ensure that proper justice is served in this case. It is only right and proper that this case is dealt with in a just way and that means ensuring the accused is dealt with in the appropriate court.”

Recep Cetin has been detained in a high security detention centre since August when he was charged with the murders of Marion Graham from Newry and her friend Kathy Dinsmore from Warrenpoint. Cetin is alleged to have killed the two women in a woodland area close to the city of Izmir where they were found stabbed to death. His lawyers claim he acted in self defence, however lawyers for the victims claimed this defence was not logical.

The accused had been dating Shannon Graham, daughter of Marion Graham, for two years. Reports claim that Cetin had a disagreement with Marion Graham about his intentions to marry her daughter who was aged 15 at the time.

Shannon was also at today’s hearing where she gave evidence against her former boyfriend. Shannon told the court that she was “deeply saddened” by the murders and that Mr Cetin had never asked her to marry him or to become engaged. Shannon also added that she believed her mother wanted her to leave Turkey and never come back due to her relationship with Mr Cetin. She claimed this may have been motivation for him to kill her mother and Kathy Dinsmore.

The next hearing will be held in February.

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Posted by Declan McAteer on Dec 29 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry