Özgür Dengiz was 27 years old when Ankara police arrested him in September 2007. By his own statement to police, he had killed two men in the Turkish capital that year. He had been through the courts once before: at 17 he had killed a friend, and he had spent three years in prison for it.
The verdict in the 2007 case, any appeal to the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay), any finding on his mental state and his present place of detention are not on record.
Dengiz grew up in Ankara, in the Mamak district. He left school after middle school. He had no steady work.
He did military service, with postings in Sarıkamış and Hatay, and was referred to hospital often there because of psychological problems. Neighbors and relatives described him as quiet and withdrawn.
Dengiz was 17 when he killed a friend after a minor dispute. He was given a prison term of 10 years, a term shaped by his young age. The court that sentenced him and the exact name of the offense are not on record. He entered prison in 1997.
He was freed after about three years under the Conditional Release Law (Şartla Salıverme Yasası). Another account has him serving the full ten years and leaving on an amnesty.
In 2007 two men died in Ankara. The second death was in September; the first is placed either in June or in August, and its date is not settled.
The second man was 55 years old and died in Mamak. Police linked the two deaths, and Dengiz admitted both in his statement. Further detail about the first man is not on record.
Dengiz was arrested in Ankara in September 2007. His parents were questioned, told police their son had psychological problems, and were released after giving statements.
Reporters described him as calm and cold as he gave his account, with one bout of laughter. Dengiz said he had a clear conscience and no regret, and that he would have gone on killing if he had not been caught. He also said that a life sentence would mean about 30 years in prison.
These are his words to police and journalists, not findings of a court.
The day after his arrest he was taken to court. The court ordered him held in custody ("tutuklandı") on the strength of his police statement. Which court made the order is not on record. No sentence is on record.
Two facts bear on the question: his parents' statement that he had psychological problems, and the record of repeated hospital referrals during military service. Neither is a medical or judicial finding. No expert report, no ruling of criminal responsibility and no order for treatment in a psychiatric institution is on record, and no acquittal or finding that he was not responsible for any death is on record.
The court, the verdict date and the sentence in the 2007 case.
Any decision of the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay).
The legal wording of any mental-state finding.
His present status, whether in prison or in a psychiatric institution.
The date of the first 2007 death (June or August 2007).
1997: aged 17, kills a friend; given a 10-year prison term; enters prison.
About three years later: released under the Conditional Release Law.
June or August 2007: the first 2007 death, in Ankara.
September 2007: the second 2007 death, in Mamak, Ankara.
September 2007: arrested in Ankara; admits both deaths in a police statement.
September 2007: taken to court and remanded in custody.
After September 2007: outcome of the case is not on record.