WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.640 You know, when you walk through a massive bustling 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:07.679 city, millions of people just rushing past you. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:09.380 Right, rushing shoulders on the subway, waiting 00:00:09.380 --> 00:00:13.380 in line for coffee. Exactly. There is this profound 00:00:13.380 --> 00:00:16.559 illusion of safety in a crowd. I mean, we just 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:18.100 assume that because there are eyes everywhere, 00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:20.320 nothing truly monstrous can happen right out 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:23.539 in the open. Yeah, it's the comfort of visibility. 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:26.160 Society basically operates on the assumption 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:29.059 that predators only hunt in the dark. you know, 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:31.660 in total isolation, far away from the gaze of 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:34.200 the morning commute. Right. But what happens 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:36.579 when someone realizes that a crowd isn't a spotlight? 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:39.079 What happens when they realize a crowd is actually, 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:41.659 like, the perfect place to hide? That's a terrifying 00:00:41.659 --> 00:00:43.969 thought. It really is. And today we are opening 00:00:43.969 --> 00:00:46.789 a deep dive into a chilling real -life mystery 00:00:46.789 --> 00:00:49.530 that explores exactly that. We're pulling from 00:00:49.530 --> 00:00:52.929 criminal databases, psychological profiles, and 00:00:52.929 --> 00:00:55.609 historical archives to reconstruct the case of 00:00:55.609 --> 00:00:57.909 the severed leg killer. Yeah, an unidentified 00:00:57.909 --> 00:01:01.109 serial killer who completely terrorized the city 00:01:01.109 --> 00:01:05.230 of Istanbul between 2000 and 2001. And this investigation, 00:01:05.230 --> 00:01:07.510 I mean, it profoundly challenges everything we 00:01:07.510 --> 00:01:09.510 think we know about urban security. We're looking 00:01:09.510 --> 00:01:12.120 at a case of staggering scale here. Definitely 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:15.780 eight victims in total six women and two men 00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:19.230 and out of those eight only one single victim 00:01:19.230 --> 00:01:21.430 was ever identified. Which is just a horrifying 00:01:21.430 --> 00:01:23.510 testament to how effectively this perpetrator 00:01:23.510 --> 00:01:26.049 erased these people from existence. Yeah, completely 00:01:26.049 --> 00:01:28.769 wiped them out. So our mission today is to examine 00:01:28.769 --> 00:01:32.290 this bizarre, gruesome timeline and to really 00:01:32.290 --> 00:01:35.329 analyze the deeply organized psychological profile 00:01:35.329 --> 00:01:38.310 of the killer. Right, we want to understand how 00:01:38.310 --> 00:01:41.409 someone managed to leave such incredibly public 00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:46.099 theatrical clues, yet, um... completely evade 00:01:46.099 --> 00:01:48.280 justice. Because here's the detail that is going 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:50.280 to stick with you right from the start. The statute 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:52.939 of limitations on this entire case expired in 00:01:52.939 --> 00:01:56.239 2021. Let that sink in. Yeah. Meaning the legal 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.579 window to prosecute this specific set of crimes 00:01:58.579 --> 00:02:02.319 has firmly, permanently closed. For you listening, 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:04.780 I mean, think of this deep dive as a master class 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:07.939 in criminal profiling. It is a very dark look 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:10.659 at how anonymity functions as a weapon within 00:02:10.659 --> 00:02:13.669 a massive metropolitan city. OK. Let's unpack 00:02:13.669 --> 00:02:16.590 this from the very beginning. We start right 00:02:16.590 --> 00:02:19.610 in the heart of Istanbul's public spaces. January 00:02:19.610 --> 00:02:22.830 8, 2000. Right. We are in the Spice Bazaar in 00:02:22.830 --> 00:02:25.629 the Eminonu district. And if you've never been, 00:02:25.909 --> 00:02:28.729 picture an incredibly crowded, vibrant, just 00:02:28.729 --> 00:02:30.889 chaotic marketplace. Thousands of people packed 00:02:30.889 --> 00:02:33.770 together. Exactly. The smell of spices, vendors 00:02:33.770 --> 00:02:37.159 yelling, and... A man is collecting paper from 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:39.580 a public trash can. Just doing his job. Yeah, 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:42.120 just doing his job. And he notices blood stains 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:44.460 on some of the discarded papers. He digs a little 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:48.939 deeper and he finds a severed human leg. He finds 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:51.180 this in one of the busiest pedestrian arteries 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:54.120 in the entire world. It's wild. The police patrol 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:56.800 is alerted immediately, of course, and the initial 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.639 forensic examination yields a very narrow window. 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:01.840 Right. They determined this leg belonged to a 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:05.449 26 to 27 year old woman. that had been severed 00:03:05.449 --> 00:03:09.050 just one to three days prior. But the detail 00:03:09.050 --> 00:03:11.289 that completely halted investigators, it wasn't 00:03:11.289 --> 00:03:13.129 the timeline. It was the condition of the leg 00:03:13.129 --> 00:03:15.729 itself. Yeah, this is where it gets really unsettling. 00:03:16.030 --> 00:03:19.129 It wasn't just discarded in a panic. It was meticulously 00:03:19.129 --> 00:03:21.389 well -groomed. I mean, there was absolutely no 00:03:21.389 --> 00:03:24.050 hair on the leg, and the toenails were freshly 00:03:24.050 --> 00:03:26.689 pedicured. And the contrast there is what gives 00:03:26.689 --> 00:03:29.789 criminal psychologists pause. You have the ultimate 00:03:29.789 --> 00:03:32.860 act of brutal physical violence and disposal, 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.500 right? Paired directly with an act of almost 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:38.419 intimate cosmetic care. It's so disturbing. Now, 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:40.900 you might think a massive mistake like leaving 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:43.539 human remains in a crowded bazaar would force 00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:45.719 a killer to retreat into the shadows, right? 00:03:45.979 --> 00:03:49.500 You'd hope so. But instead of hiding, the geography 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:52.780 of his dump sites begins to expand. Fast forward 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:55.780 to May 19th, 2000, early in the morning at the 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:58.719 Eminonu port. Right by the water. Yeah. A boat 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.360 captain hears this rhythmic bumping sound against 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:03.919 the bow of his docked boat. He looks over the 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.240 edge, assuming it's like a mannequin leg bobbing 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:08.879 in the water. It's human. It's human. And shortly 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:11.340 after that, a passenger walking along the shore 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:14.080 finds another leg. Now, the forensics on these 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.920 remains were much trickier. These belonged to 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:19.800 a second victim, estimated to be a 25 to 30 -year 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:23.319 -old woman. But they had been totally degraded. 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:26.220 by prolonged exposure to saltwater. Wait, how 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:27.980 does that actually change the investigation? 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:30.680 Like, why is saltwater such a nightmare for forensics? 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:33.100 Saltwater essentially accelerates the destruction 00:04:33.100 --> 00:04:35.720 of the biological timeline. It's a huge problem. 00:04:35.980 --> 00:04:39.300 How so? Well, osmosis draws moisture out of the 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:42.160 tissues, then marine activity alters the physical 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.980 structure of the skin, and the salt breaks down 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:47.860 the cellular integrity much faster than just 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:50.689 normal air exposure. Wow. Yeah, it basically 00:04:50.689 --> 00:04:53.389 washes away trace evidence and distorts levitity. 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:55.310 Levitity, that's the pooling of blood, right? 00:04:55.410 --> 00:04:57.750 Exactly. Levitity is the pooling of blood that 00:04:57.750 --> 00:04:59.589 tells medical examiners the approximate time 00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:02.550 of death. So with that gone, it's a guessing 00:05:02.550 --> 00:05:05.930 game. But despite that degradation, experts estimated 00:05:05.930 --> 00:05:08.449 they were severed seven to 10 days before discovery. 00:05:08.629 --> 00:05:11.209 And crucially, the grooming signature was present 00:05:11.209 --> 00:05:14.350 again. Yes. The toes of both legs were painted 00:05:14.350 --> 00:05:16.930 with dark red nail polish. Which is just such 00:05:16.930 --> 00:05:19.569 a specific detail, and it actually led police 00:05:19.569 --> 00:05:22.069 to desperately search missing persons' reports. 00:05:22.430 --> 00:05:24.529 They did. They actually found a possible match. 00:05:25.009 --> 00:05:27.370 It was a missing prostitute who operated in the 00:05:27.370 --> 00:05:30.029 Axari and Taksim areas. But tragically, investigators 00:05:30.029 --> 00:05:32.389 couldn't reach her family, so the DNA tests were 00:05:32.389 --> 00:05:35.329 never conducted to confirm her identity. It really 00:05:35.329 --> 00:05:37.629 highlights the systemic vulnerability of the 00:05:37.629 --> 00:05:40.110 people he was targeting early on. It really does. 00:05:40.730 --> 00:05:43.310 Then, in December of that same year, a group 00:05:43.310 --> 00:05:46.290 of high school students, kids basically they 00:05:46.290 --> 00:05:49.689 stumble upon a third leg. Right, a 22 to 24 year 00:05:49.689 --> 00:05:52.670 old woman severed a few days prior and again 00:05:52.670 --> 00:05:55.709 similarly well groomed. I have to pause here 00:05:55.709 --> 00:05:58.370 because the psychology feels incredibly contradictory 00:05:58.370 --> 00:06:00.610 to me. It's like the killer is using these bustling 00:06:00.610 --> 00:06:03.990 public spaces as an inverted museum exhibit. 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:06.079 That's a good way to put it. Yeah, he's forcing 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.360 everyday people, you know, a paper collector, 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:10.600 a boat captain, high school kids, just trying 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:13.660 to live their lives to act as an involuntary 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:16.259 audience for this macabre display. He wants them 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:20.009 to see it. Right. But here is my pushback. If 00:06:20.009 --> 00:06:22.189 his ultimate goal was to chop up these victims 00:06:22.189 --> 00:06:24.569 and throw them in public trash cans, like literal 00:06:24.569 --> 00:06:27.509 garbage, why go through the deeply intimate, 00:06:27.589 --> 00:06:30.050 time -consuming trouble of ensuring the legs 00:06:30.050 --> 00:06:32.550 were perfectly groomed and pedicured? What's 00:06:32.550 --> 00:06:35.769 fascinating here is how that specific contradiction 00:06:35.769 --> 00:06:39.810 reveals the core of his pathology. Really? How 00:06:39.810 --> 00:06:42.790 so? In criminal psychology, that level of grooming 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:45.629 isn't an act of care or affection. It is the 00:06:45.629 --> 00:06:48.089 ultimate expression of control. Oh, wow. Yeah. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:50.379 He isn't treating them as human beings who had 00:06:50.379 --> 00:06:53.660 lives and names. He's treating them as objects. 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:56.220 Like dolls to be perfected before they're thrown 00:06:56.220 --> 00:06:59.560 away. Exactly like dolls. By manicuring the remains, 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:02.319 he is asserting absolute dominance over the victim's 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:04.649 physical form. It's a ritual. So the grooming 00:07:04.649 --> 00:07:07.129 is for him, not for them. Correct. The public 00:07:07.129 --> 00:07:09.069 disposal of the legs is the performance he wants 00:07:09.069 --> 00:07:11.750 the city to see. But the grooming is his private, 00:07:11.850 --> 00:07:14.990 obsessive signature. It sets a terrifying baseline 00:07:14.990 --> 00:07:16.889 for the police. Because they realize what they're 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:18.889 up against. Right. They are dealing with someone 00:07:18.889 --> 00:07:22.269 who is methodical, patient, and deeply invested 00:07:22.269 --> 00:07:24.829 in his own specific fantasy. Well, hold on to 00:07:24.829 --> 00:07:27.069 that word methodical because the timeline takes 00:07:27.069 --> 00:07:30.189 a massive, jarring turn here. It really does. 00:07:30.230 --> 00:07:32.410 We've established this very specific signature, 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:36.329 right? Young, female, cleanly severed, highly 00:07:36.329 --> 00:07:40.410 groomed. But then the pattern just fractures. 00:07:40.730 --> 00:07:43.610 The psychology of the dump sites shifts abruptly 00:07:43.610 --> 00:07:46.290 with the introduction of male victims. And this 00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:48.689 completely alters the scope of the investigation. 00:07:48.870 --> 00:07:50.569 Investigators are suddenly looking at a much 00:07:50.569 --> 00:07:53.290 wider threat matrix. Yeah, the rules change entirely. 00:07:53.529 --> 00:07:57.850 March 12, 2001. Two severed legs are found about 00:07:57.850 --> 00:08:00.589 50 meters apart in garbage bags in the Hadar 00:08:00.589 --> 00:08:03.430 district. Also known as Uncapania. Right. One 00:08:03.430 --> 00:08:06.129 belongs to a woman, roughly 20 to 22 years old. 00:08:06.709 --> 00:08:09.610 But the other belongs to a man, 25 to 30 years 00:08:09.610 --> 00:08:11.790 old. And the forensics tell a completely different 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:14.529 story here. Exactly. The woman's leg is severed 00:08:14.529 --> 00:08:16.610 cleanly, perfectly matching the previous victims. 00:08:16.829 --> 00:08:19.839 But the man's leg... The cuts are rough, jagged. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:22.680 Messy. Very messy. Furthermore, blood samples 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:24.740 taken from the man's leg show traces of drugs 00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:27.839 and alcohol. Which is a huge detail. Right. And 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:31.300 then this happens again on July 20, 2001. Another 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:34.659 male victim, 30 to 35 years old, is discovered 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:37.639 on the Maltepe Coast. The leg is severed at the 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:40.200 knee, and again, blood samples show a massive 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:42.340 amount of alcohol in his system. Huge amounts. 00:08:42.659 --> 00:08:45.159 Here's where it gets really interesting. I'm 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:48.240 looking at this. stark difference in the actual 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:51.580 severing technique. You have clean, precise cuts 00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:54.600 for the women versus these rough, almost frantic 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.279 cuts for the men. Does this imply a difference 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.639 in how the killer viewed them? Could it be that 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:01.860 the women were his primary, obsessed over targets, 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:04.879 while the men were just frantic, utility -driven 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:07.299 collateral damage? The forensic science entirely 00:09:07.299 --> 00:09:10.159 backs up that intuition, absolutely. Real? Yeah. 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:12.539 When investigators see variations like clean 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:15.100 versus rough cuts at a single crime scene, they 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:17.139 are looking at physical evidence of a psychological 00:09:17.139 --> 00:09:20.220 shift. Like a change in mood. Exactly. A clean 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:22.759 cut on bone and tissue requires time, the right 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:25.519 tools, and a calm, controlled environment. It 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:27.419 shows the killer is indulging in a methodical 00:09:27.419 --> 00:09:29.200 ritual. But a rough cut means something went 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:32.220 wrong. A rough cut leaves jagged tissue tearing, 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:35.159 hesitation marks on the bone, and uneven slicing. 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:38.340 It signifies a shift into rushed panic. Because 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:41.539 he's losing control. Right. The clean cuts of 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:43.539 the female victims tell us he was in control 00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:46.360 of his fantasy. The rough cuts on the male victims 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.860 tell a story of sheer desperation. Those men 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:51.539 weren't supposed to be there. Exactly. They represent 00:09:51.539 --> 00:09:54.320 an interruption or a complication in his highly 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:56.600 organized environment. And the high levels of 00:09:56.600 --> 00:10:00.080 alcohol and drugs in the male victims that suggests 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:02.720 chemical incapacitation, right? Which makes perfect 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:04.779 sense if he was caught off guard. Yeah. I mean, 00:10:04.779 --> 00:10:07.419 if these men were obstacles to his primary goal, 00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:10.679 perhaps boyfriends or associates of the female 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:13.200 victims who just showed up unexpectedly intoxicating 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:15.860 them makes them easier to overpower. But the 00:10:15.860 --> 00:10:18.179 disposal was still a panic necessity. Right. 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:21.379 The care goes out the window because his survival, 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:24.379 his need to avoid capture, overrides the ritual 00:10:24.379 --> 00:10:28.000 entirely. Man. Up until this point, despite the 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.299 panic of those interruptions, the killer has 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:32.799 successfully erased the identities of everyone 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.759 he has murdered. Nobody has a name. Right. The 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:38.559 police only have estimated ages and these terrifying 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:42.259 fragments. But that total anonymity breaks in 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:45.159 March of 2001 with an escalation that brings 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:47.519 the horror directly into the lives of the people 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.919 left behind. Yeah. The tragedy of Jasmin Dürgen. 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:54.639 March 22, 2001. garbage collectors in the Tunel 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:57.320 subway funicular line, which again is a major 00:10:57.320 --> 00:11:00.720 public transit hub. They find the leg of 17 year 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.679 old Yasemin Durgin. Just a kid. She becomes the 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:06.519 only victim in this entire case to ever be officially 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:09.820 identified. And her case presents a very strange 00:11:09.820 --> 00:11:12.639 forensic anomaly. It does. Investigators determined 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:15.080 her leg was likely submerged in hot water before 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:17.659 it was disposed of. There was absolutely no blood 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:20.100 found at the scene. It was completely blanched. 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:22.159 Yeah. How does that even work? Like why would 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.000 a killer boil or submerge remains in hot water? 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.720 It is a brutal counter forensic measure. Really? 00:11:27.899 --> 00:11:30.720 To hide evidence? Exactly. Submerging tissue 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:33.779 in scalding water essentially cooks it. It denatures 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:35.860 the proteins in the tissue which washes away 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:38.139 external trace DNA like, you know, the killer's 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:40.639 sweat or skin cells. Oh wow. So he's actively 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:44.460 thinking about DNA now. He is. And it also completely 00:11:44.460 --> 00:11:47.080 halts the natural pooling of blood, which we 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:49.990 mentioned earlier as levitity. So by blanching 00:11:49.990 --> 00:11:52.750 the remains, the killer purposefully scrambles 00:11:52.750 --> 00:11:55.509 the biological clock. Making it incredibly difficult 00:11:55.509 --> 00:11:57.830 for the medical examiner to determine an accurate 00:11:57.830 --> 00:12:00.830 time of death. Exactly. He is actively learning 00:12:00.830 --> 00:12:03.570 and adapting his forensic countermeasures. But 00:12:03.570 --> 00:12:05.730 what makes Yasemin's case so distinct are the 00:12:05.730 --> 00:12:07.970 psychological breadcrumbs he leaves behind. The 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:11.090 taunting. Yeah, the taunting. Yasemin was last 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:14.179 seen at a post office on March 20. Two days later, 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:17.240 her leg is found, but then her personal belongings 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.519 start turning up scattered in Gumusuyu Park. 00:12:19.659 --> 00:12:21.740 Just left out in the open. Right. Everything 00:12:21.740 --> 00:12:24.620 is there except her mobile phone. That missing 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:27.379 phone is eventually found much later in a completely 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:30.399 different district, Tatekale. He is physically 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.269 displacing her life. scattering it across the 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:35.669 geography of Istanbul. It's like he's breadcrumbing 00:12:35.669 --> 00:12:38.289 the police. He's turning her actual life into 00:12:38.289 --> 00:12:41.190 this twisted scavenger hunt to assert his dominance 00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:43.870 over the investigation. And this arrogance peaks 00:12:43.870 --> 00:12:48.330 on March 25. This part is so creepy. A payphone 00:12:48.330 --> 00:12:50.909 rings in the hallway of Yasemin's high school. 00:12:51.110 --> 00:12:54.529 It rings twice. At her actual school. Yes. A 00:12:54.529 --> 00:12:57.090 female student picks it up expecting a classmate. 00:12:57.370 --> 00:12:59.970 Instead, there is a male voice on the other end. 00:13:00.429 --> 00:13:03.830 The student later described his voice as intoxicated 00:13:03.830 --> 00:13:06.870 or even psychotic. Just chilling. And he tells 00:13:06.870 --> 00:13:09.429 her, quote, Don't look for that girl. You won't 00:13:09.429 --> 00:13:12.610 find her. The sheer audacity of that action changes 00:13:12.610 --> 00:13:15.730 the entire profile of the offender. Imagine answering 00:13:15.730 --> 00:13:18.610 a ringing payphone in your bustling school hallway 00:13:18.610 --> 00:13:21.429 and hearing the man who dismantled your classmate 00:13:21.429 --> 00:13:23.210 on the other end of the line. It's a nightmare. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:25.659 But I don't understand the logic here. He was 00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:28.440 winning by keeping these victims nameless. Why 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:30.840 risk making a direct traceable phone call to 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:33.080 her specific high school? Well, this raises an 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:35.299 important question about the evolution of a serial 00:13:35.299 --> 00:13:38.480 offender's motivation. Okay, how so? Early on, 00:13:38.940 --> 00:13:41.279 the throw was derived from the private knowledge 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:44.080 of his public displays. He enjoyed watching the 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:45.799 police scramble while he remained invisible. 00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:49.700 The secret spectator. Right. But as he continuously 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:52.580 evades capture, that silent victory isn't enough 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:56.009 anymore. Calling the school suggests a dangerous 00:13:56.009 --> 00:13:58.830 spike in his need for omnipotence. He wants to 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:01.669 feel like a god. Exactly. He wants to witness 00:14:01.669 --> 00:14:04.230 the psychological terror he is inflicting in 00:14:04.230 --> 00:14:06.769 real time. He wants to know that he is not just 00:14:06.769 --> 00:14:09.970 confusing a faceless police department, but actively 00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:13.730 intimately devastating a community. It is a massive 00:14:13.730 --> 00:14:16.789 leap in arrogance driven by a feeling of invincibility. 00:14:16.929 --> 00:14:19.509 Without a doubt. And he leaves behind this totally 00:14:19.509 --> 00:14:21.730 chaotic puzzle for the authorities. I mean, you 00:14:21.730 --> 00:14:24.450 have the precise grooming of the early victims, 00:14:24.830 --> 00:14:27.669 the sudden panic rough cuts on the male collateral 00:14:27.669 --> 00:14:30.169 damage, the hot water blanching countermeasures, 00:14:30.169 --> 00:14:32.990 and then a psychotic, taunting phone call to 00:14:32.990 --> 00:14:34.990 a school. That's a lot of conflicting data. It 00:14:34.990 --> 00:14:37.610 is. So to try and synthesize this phantom into 00:14:37.610 --> 00:14:40.179 a tangible suspect, investigators have brought 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:42.220 in an American psychologist, Richard Walter, 00:14:42.620 --> 00:14:45.320 to construct a comprehensive psychological profile. 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:48.659 And Richard Walter's analysis of this case is 00:14:48.659 --> 00:14:51.000 widely considered a really fascinating piece 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:53.840 of forensic deduction. I mean, he had to look 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:57.399 at a series of disjointed, gruesome public spectacles 00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:00.039 and basically reverse engineer the man behind 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:02.419 them. Right. So Walter looked at the evidence 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:05.820 and concluded a few major things. First, he tackled 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:08.039 the motive for the dismemberment itself. The 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:10.840 why of the public dome. Yeah. He theorized the 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:13.120 killer explicitly wanted the legs to be found 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:15.799 to cause widespread public panic and gain media 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:19.279 notoriety. But he deliberately hid the torsos 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.820 and heads to prevent identification. Which tracks 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.799 with his need for control. Exactly. Walter also 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.419 suggested the killer actively revisited the crime 00:15:27.419 --> 00:15:29.700 scenes, like literally standing in the crowds 00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:32.580 at the Spice Bazaar or the M &O Newport, to relive 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:34.720 his acts while blending in with the onlookers. 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:36.980 The ultimate thrill of hiding in plain sight, 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.700 just feeding off the energy of the panic he engineered. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:42.279 Then there's the victimology. Walter's profile 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:44.100 stated the murders of the women were sexually 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:46.360 motivated, stemming from the killer's own deep 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:48.720 -seated feelings of incompetence and inadequacy. 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:51.519 And the men. The men, as the forensics suggested, 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:54.629 were likely collateral. murdered simply because 00:15:54.629 --> 00:15:56.350 they were in relationships with the targeted 00:15:56.350 --> 00:15:58.970 women, or just happened to be in the wrong place 00:15:58.970 --> 00:16:02.269 at the wrong time. Makes sense. And the profile 00:16:02.269 --> 00:16:05.029 tracks a chilling evolution in the killer's confidence. 00:16:05.909 --> 00:16:07.990 Walter noted that he likely started with highly 00:16:07.990 --> 00:16:10.509 vulnerable targets, like the missing prostitute 00:16:10.509 --> 00:16:13.070 from X -ray, because they were, quote unquote, 00:16:13.389 --> 00:16:16.490 easier to access and less likely to be immediately 00:16:16.490 --> 00:16:19.250 reported missing. Right. Predators look for vulnerability. 00:16:19.490 --> 00:16:22.309 But as his confidence swelled, fed by the public 00:16:22.309 --> 00:16:25.429 panic and police confusion, he shifted to targeting 00:16:25.429 --> 00:16:28.750 totally random citizens, like Yasemin. Which 00:16:28.750 --> 00:16:30.730 means the illusion of safety we talked about 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:33.350 at the very beginning was completely shattered. 00:16:33.950 --> 00:16:36.009 Anyone walking on the street became a potential 00:16:36.009 --> 00:16:38.769 target for his escalating fantasy. But the logistical 00:16:38.769 --> 00:16:40.490 part of the profile is where I get a bit tricked 00:16:40.490 --> 00:16:43.440 up. Oh, yeah. Why is that? Walter concluded this 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:45.899 killer was highly organized. He theorized the 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:49.539 killer operated in a single secure indoor location, 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.000 took the time to cut the bodies into exactly 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.139 six pieces and used a standard suitcase to dispose 00:16:55.139 --> 00:16:57.679 of them, making at least two trips per victim 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:00.840 on public transit. That's a very specific breakdown. 00:17:01.159 --> 00:17:03.799 Right. Wait, if the police are only ever finding 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.160 severed legs, how could Walter possibly confidently 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:10.460 state the bodies were cut into exactly six pieces? 00:17:10.900 --> 00:17:12.799 What is the forensic math there? Oh, it comes 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.500 down to forensic biomechanics and the practical 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:17.400 limitations of the human body. Okay, lay it on 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:19.880 me. Well, an average adult human body weighs 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:25.059 roughly 130 to 160 pounds, give or take. A standard 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:27.339 piece of rolling luggage can comfortably conceal 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:30.160 and carry about 40 to 50 pounds before the weight 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:32.900 distribution becomes too obvious. Or the structural 00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:35.319 integrity of the suitcase just fails. Like the 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.460 wheels break or handle snaps. Exactly. If a killer 00:17:38.460 --> 00:17:41.200 is dismembering a body to transport it covertly, 00:17:41.339 --> 00:17:43.859 they naturally cut at the major joint articulations. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:45.880 The joint? Yeah, the shoulders, the hips, and 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:49.019 the neck. That specific anatomical breakdown 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:52.680 yields exactly six pieces. Four limbs, the torso, 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:55.059 and the head. Oh, wow. I never thought about 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:57.079 it like that. And to move that weight without 00:17:57.079 --> 00:17:59.440 drawing the attention of subway guards or pedestrians, 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:02.700 it mathematically requires at least two separate 00:18:02.700 --> 00:18:05.460 suitcase trips. So the profile isn't just guessing. 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:08.500 It is reverse engineering the physics of moving 00:18:08.500 --> 00:18:11.380 a body on a train. Exactly right. Which leads 00:18:11.380 --> 00:18:14.480 directly to Walter's profile of the suspect's 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:16.720 actual identity. Yes, the demographic profile. 00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:18.940 Based on this methodology, Walter believed the 00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:21.720 killer was not native to Istanbul, but had moved 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:24.519 there for work. Because he was making these discrete 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.779 trips, he likely didn't own a personal car, relying 00:18:27.779 --> 00:18:30.319 entirely on walking or navigating the public 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:32.680 transport grid. Which fits the dump sites perfectly. 00:18:32.779 --> 00:18:34.990 They were all near transit hubs or water. Right. 00:18:34.990 --> 00:18:36.970 He probably worked a job that closed early in 00:18:36.970 --> 00:18:39.029 the day, giving him the solitude of the night 00:18:39.029 --> 00:18:42.390 to operate. And crucially, given the extreme 00:18:42.390 --> 00:18:45.349 organization, the counter forensic measures like 00:18:45.349 --> 00:18:47.609 the hot water blanching and the sheer brutality 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:50.289 of the crimes. Walter believed this person definitely 00:18:50.289 --> 00:18:52.829 had a documented history of violence. Exactly. 00:18:53.430 --> 00:18:56.089 And had possibly spent time in a prison or a 00:18:56.089 --> 00:18:58.250 psychiatric institution before ever arriving 00:18:58.250 --> 00:19:01.509 in Istanbul. The profiler builds an incredibly 00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:05.130 tight, specific box. to catch the suspect in. 00:19:05.470 --> 00:19:07.529 So what does this all mean? I have to push back 00:19:07.529 --> 00:19:09.890 strongly against the implications of this perfectly 00:19:09.890 --> 00:19:13.289 constructed box. Push away. If this killer was 00:19:13.289 --> 00:19:16.230 truly so highly organized, so addicted to the 00:19:16.230 --> 00:19:18.849 public panic, and his arrogance was actively 00:19:18.849 --> 00:19:20.970 growing to the point where he was targeting random 00:19:20.970 --> 00:19:23.089 citizens and calling their high schoolers to 00:19:23.089 --> 00:19:26.130 taunt them, how does someone like that just stop? 00:19:26.250 --> 00:19:28.710 It's the big question. The murders definitively 00:19:28.710 --> 00:19:32.099 end in 2001. Did he suddenly discover a conscience? 00:19:32.420 --> 00:19:35.119 Did he die? Did he get incarcerated for some 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.180 unrelated crime? Well, if we connect this to 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:40.759 the broader reality of serial homicide, voluntary 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:42.859 cessation, which is a killer simply deciding 00:19:42.859 --> 00:19:45.500 to retire because they are bored or feel guilty, 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:48.400 is exceptionally rare. It almost never happens. 00:19:48.819 --> 00:19:52.119 Right. Especially for a highly organized, psychologically 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:55.400 driven offender whose pathology revolves around 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:58.960 absolute control, and public dominance. The compulsion 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:01.940 to kill usually escalates over time. It doesn't 00:20:01.940 --> 00:20:03.660 just naturally fade away. You don't just wake 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:05.559 up one morning and decide to take up watercolor 00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:08.779 painting instead. The science says no. It is 00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:11.859 highly probable he was incarcerated for a different, 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.000 perhaps completely unrelated, lesser crime. Like 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:18.619 theft or assault. Exactly. Or he died. Or perhaps 00:20:18.619 --> 00:20:21.980 most chillingly, he relocated again. abandoning 00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:24.200 Istanbul to start his cycle over in a new city 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:27.220 where nobody knew his signature. Wow. But this 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:29.339 highlights the frustrating paradox of even the 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:31.839 most brilliant psychological profile. It is a 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:34.039 phenomenal investigative tool to understand the 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:36.180 why and the how of a crime scene. It brings the 00:20:36.180 --> 00:20:38.220 phantom into focus. Right. But if the suspect 00:20:38.220 --> 00:20:40.640 falls completely off the grid, like if they never 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:42.500 get pulled over for a traffic violation or their 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:44.619 DNA never pops up in an international database, 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:47.319 that brilliant profile just becomes a meticulously 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:50.160 detailed dead end. It tells the detectives exactly 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:51.710 who they are. you're looking for, while the suspect 00:20:51.710 --> 00:20:54.750 vanishes into thin air. Exactly. And that is 00:20:54.750 --> 00:20:56.869 exactly the dark reality of what happened here. 00:20:57.529 --> 00:21:00.609 Let's briefly recap this shilling journey. We 00:21:00.609 --> 00:21:03.049 started with the sheer shock of that first discovery 00:21:03.049 --> 00:21:05.730 by a paper collector in the chaotic Spice Bazaar. 00:21:05.829 --> 00:21:08.049 Then we traced the killer's shifting pathology. 00:21:08.329 --> 00:21:11.109 Right. Observing how a methodical ritual shattered 00:21:11.109 --> 00:21:14.130 into panicked, rough cuts on collateral male 00:21:14.130 --> 00:21:17.569 victims. We looked at the heartbreaking, solitary 00:21:17.569 --> 00:21:20.089 identification of 17 -year -old Yasemin Durgan. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:23.380 and the arrogant, psychotic taunts left for her 00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:26.539 classmates. And finally, we examined a masterfully 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:28.900 detailed psychological profile that laid bare 00:21:28.900 --> 00:21:32.140 the mechanics of the killer, but ultimately remains 00:21:32.140 --> 00:21:35.500 unfulfilled. This case serves as a profound reminder 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:39.420 of the sheer anonymity of urban life. The systems 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:41.740 we rely on every single day to make a massive 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:44.509 city function Public trash cans, subway lines, 00:21:44.869 --> 00:21:47.210 crowded marketplaces, passenger ferries. These 00:21:47.210 --> 00:21:48.710 were successfully weaponized. They were used 00:21:48.710 --> 00:21:51.230 against the public. Yeah. Someone used the very 00:21:51.230 --> 00:21:53.410 fabric of the city, the invisible hum of the 00:21:53.410 --> 00:21:56.549 daily commute, to hide in plain sight. It really 00:21:56.549 --> 00:21:58.549 makes you look at a crowded street differently. 00:21:58.910 --> 00:22:01.029 I mean, we assume safety in numbers, but... This 00:22:01.029 --> 00:22:04.150 case shows how fragile that safety actually is. 00:22:04.609 --> 00:22:06.930 It only takes one person who views the crowd 00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:09.849 as camouflage. Just one person. And I want to 00:22:09.849 --> 00:22:12.369 leave you with one final incredibly chilling 00:22:12.369 --> 00:22:14.470 reality check. We mentioned this at the top of 00:22:14.470 --> 00:22:17.430 the deep dive, but let it really sink in now. 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:20.680 The statute of limitations for these specific 00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:24.359 crimes legally expired in Turkey in 2021. The 00:22:24.359 --> 00:22:26.559 judicial clock is permanently run out. That means 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.339 if this highly organized thrill -seeking killer 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:33.519 is still alive today, perhaps just an older unassuming 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.099 man writing the exact same public transit lines 00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:38.500 he used to transport a suitcase 20 years ago, 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:41.799 he is entirely immune from prosecution for these 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:44.099 eight murders. The hard pill to swallow. It forces 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:46.509 you to ask. What does the concept of justice 00:22:46.509 --> 00:22:48.690 actually mean when the law simply runs out of 00:22:48.690 --> 00:22:51.210 time on an unsolved nightmare? A very dark question 00:22:51.210 --> 00:22:54.509 to end on. But a necessary one. The next time 00:22:54.509 --> 00:22:56.549 you are standing shoulder to shoulder in a crowd 00:22:56.549 --> 00:22:59.109 surrounded by a thousand faces you don't know, 00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:02.170 just remember, sometimes the monsters aren't 00:23:02.170 --> 00:23:04.849 hiding in the shadows. Sometimes they're just 00:23:04.849 --> 00:23:06.430 waiting for the train right beside you.