solved
Serial killer
May 27, 2016
Perpetrator
Atalay Filiz
Atalay Filiz, born June 2, 1986, is a Turkish man dubbed by the press the "Lover Killer" and a serial killer. Highly educated, he was captured on June 12, 2016, after a passenger recognized him on a minibus in the Menderes district of Izmir. He received three aggravated life sentences for the premeditated murders and is held at Silivri Prison.
Victims
- Göktuğ Demirarslan (26)
- Elena Radchikova (23)
- Fatma Kayıkçı (40)
- Olga Seregina
Location
Tuzla district, Istanbul, Turkey
Summary
Turkish serial killer Atalay Filiz murdered three people across Ankara and Istanbul between 2013 and 2016, and is also linked to a missing Russian girlfriend, before his 2016 capture.
Details
On September 16, 2013, Filiz shot dead physics engineer Göktuğ Demirarslan (26) and Russian national Elena Radchikova (23) in the Eryaman area of Ankara, reportedly because they questioned him about the disappearance of his former girlfriend Olga Seregina, a Russian student who vanished in Paris in December 2011 and is presumed murdered. On May 27, 2016, Filiz stabbed his landlord Fatma Kayıkçı (40) eleven times in Tuzla, Istanbul, after she grew suspicious of his identity. He was arrested on June 12, 2016, in Izmir after a passenger recognized him on a minibus.
Overview
Atalay Filiz is a Turkish convicted murderer widely described in the Turkish press as a serial killer. He was born on June 2, 1986, in Bandırma, in Turkey's Balıkesir Province. Filiz was held responsible for three killings carried out between 2013 and 2016 across Ankara and the Istanbul area, and authorities also linked him to the unexplained disappearance of his former girlfriend in Paris. After spending nearly three years as a fugitive, he was captured in June 2016 in the western province of İzmir. Turkish courts subsequently handed him multiple aggravated life sentences, making him one of the most widely publicized criminal cases in Turkey of that decade.
Background
Filiz was an academically accomplished young man before his crimes. According to Turkish media accounts, he attended the prestigious Galatasaray High School in Istanbul and later went to France, where he is reported to have studied biology at the University of Paris-Sud. He did not complete his degree, with accounts attributing this to financial difficulties and missed classes, after which he returned to Turkey.
While in Paris, Filiz reportedly met a Russian woman named Olga Seregina around 2008. Seregina vanished on December 17, 2011, after meeting Filiz. She was never found, and Turkish and foreign investigators came to suspect that Filiz was responsible for her disappearance, although he was not formally convicted in connection with her case. The disappearance later became central to his stated motive for the 2013 killings.
The 2013 Ankara double murder
On September 16, 2013, Filiz killed Göktuğ Demirarslan, described in reports as in his mid-20s and an engineer, together with Demirarslan's girlfriend Elena Radchikova, a Russian woman aged 23. The two were ambushed and shot near their home in Ankara. Press accounts state that Filiz fired several shots at close range using a hunting rifle and that he had disguised himself during the attack.
Filiz later said he killed the couple because they had accused him of being responsible for the disappearance of Olga Seregina. The double homicide drew significant attention partly because of Göktuğ Demirarslan's family background, which was prominent, and because of the apparent premeditation involved. Following the killings, Filiz fled and evaded capture for an extended period, becoming the subject of a nationwide manhunt.
The 2016 murder and capture
In May 2016, while living under a changed identity, Filiz killed Fatma Kayıkçı, a woman in her 40s and a mother of two. Reports indicate the killing occurred after she discovered or suspected his true identity. Accounts of the method vary in the Turkish press, with some describing the attack in detail; the killing took place in the Istanbul region.
Filiz was apprehended on June 12, 2016, in İzmir's Menderes district. According to reporting, an ordinary member of the public recognized him, reportedly while he was traveling, and alerted police, leading to his arrest. His capture ended one of Turkey's longest-running fugitive searches of the period and generated extensive media coverage, including detailed accounts of his statements to investigators.
Trials and sentencing
Filiz was prosecuted in separate proceedings for the killings. In 2017, an Ankara court convicted him in connection with the 2013 premeditated murders of Göktuğ Demirarslan and Elena Radchikova and imposed two aggravated life sentences. Later in 2017, a court in the Istanbul jurisdiction added a further aggravated life sentence for the premeditated murder of Fatma Kayıkçı.
In interviews and courtroom statements widely reported in Turkey, Filiz spoke about the killings and the reasoning he attached to them, including references to anger and to the accusations surrounding Seregina's disappearance. His sentences were subsequently upheld on appeal. He has been held in the Turkish prison system, with reports placing him in high-security custody.
Legacy and media coverage
The Atalay Filiz case became one of the most heavily covered crime stories in Turkey in the mid-2010s. His combination of an elite educational background, an international dimension involving Paris and Russian nationals, a years-long fugitive period, and his own articulate statements to the press made the case a recurring subject in newspapers and television programs.
Because of the disappearance of Olga Seregina, which remains officially unresolved, some accounts describe Filiz as a serial killer linked to four possible victims, while his formal convictions concern three murders. This distinction is important for accuracy, as the Seregina case did not result in a conviction. The case is frequently cited in Turkish discussions of high-profile criminal investigations and the role of public tip-offs in capturing fugitives.
