The brutal murder of 51-year-old math teacher Hikmet Akçay by his student in 2006 in Turkey was solved 19 years later. According to cnnturk.com, the perpetrator and three others were arrested and imprisoned after confessing.

The victim had been reported missing by his brother İsmet in May 2006 after losing contact with him for several days.

Stabbed to death, placed in a suitcase, and burned

It was revealed that Hikmet Akçay was stabbed to death, then transported in a suitcase from Kocaeli to Silivri and burned. From the beginning, the suspects included Esin B., now 42 and a former student of the murdered teacher, a chemistry teacher, and a coach. Although the body was found in 2006, it was not identified, and the case was initially closed.

Using technology, Turkish authorities recovered old phone conversations between the victim and the perpetrator, as well as between the perpetrator and her accomplices.

Perpetrator and victim had contact

Police investigated Esin B.’s background—she is a municipal employee in Istanbul—and found she maintained contact with Hikmet Akçay even after entering university. It was also found that she used to visit the victim’s home during her childhood and occasionally received financial support from him.

Police focused on April 27, 2006, the day the victim’s phone was turned off. Telecommunications records showed that on that day, the four suspects moved in coordination: Esin B., chemistry teacher Erdoğan G., her friend Zemci S., and relative Hakan N.

After completing the investigation, the Turkish Missing Persons Office launched an operation to arrest the suspects on November 24 in Istanbul and Gaziantep.

Initially, the suspects denied involvement, but police later obtained Esin’s confession.

Esin’s confession

“Hikmet was my math teacher in high school. We had a good relationship, and he used to visit my family. Since we were not financially well-off, he helped us occasionally.”

Esin said she never lost contact with the teacher: “I was accepted into the Physical Education Teaching program at Kocaeli University. I continued talking to him in university. Meanwhile, while in high school, I fell in love with my chemistry teacher, Erdoğan G. At first, since I was very young, my feelings were not reciprocated, but when I started university, we became lovers. Hikmet got angry when he heard I was dating. He threatened me, saying: ‘What are you doing with married men? I will tell your family and his wife.’”

Esin admitted the murder happened at her home in Kocaeli, where the victim had come to visit. “First, he wanted to come to my house. When I refused, we met at a mall. We argued again. Then we went shopping at the mall, and afterwards, we went to my house. When we got home, we argued again. During this time, he tried to strangle me. I pushed him away. He fell to the floor and stayed still. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. I was losing control. I don’t remember exactly what I did. Suddenly, there was blood everywhere.”

After the incident, Esin said she called her university friend Zemci. “She came to my house. When she saw the body, she asked what happened. I explained the situation. We were going to go to the police first, but then we decided to hide the body. We moved it to the bathroom,” she said.

Esin and her friend left the body at the house in Kocaeli, then went to the victim’s home in the Yıldırım neighborhood of Bayrampaşa, Istanbul. Using a key found on the victim, they searched the house for evidence to use for blackmail and then left.

Esin then called her chemistry teacher Erdoğan and informed him. He came to meet her, and they decided to move the body. They bought a red suitcase, put the body inside, and transported it by car.

During the investigation, police found that Hikmet Akçay’s body, found in the area in 2006, had been buried in the anonymous cemetery after being unidentified for some time.

Recorded conversations

After the initial missing person report, the Missing Persons Office examined the victim’s house and found some recorded conversations that had been sent for investigation but not fully reviewed. After re-examination, the tapes—enhanced with advanced technology—contained conversations between Esin and the victim.

During these conversations, Akçay allegedly said: “You’re having sexual relations with married men. I will tell your mother. I also know the wife of that teacher. I will tell her about this.”

Esin also reportedly threatened: “If you don’t end that relationship, I will ruin you and put you in a suitcase.”