Ali Kaya (serial killer)

Ali Kaya committed crime such as theft, assault and snatch theft, and was imprisoned at the age of 17.[1] He was released from prison in 1997 when he was 19 years old.[1] The same year, he began his murders.[1][2]

He stabbed his uncle Celal Kaya to death while working at his real estate office in Alanya in 1997.[1][2][3][4] Kaya was sentenced to five-year aggravated imprisonment in Silifke Prison for this crime.[1][2][3] In 1999, he was released on parole.[1][2]

He then killed Zeynel Abidin Gümüş, who he believed had sexually assaulted his mother.[1][2][3] During his incarceration at Elazığ Prison, he was diagnosed with a "mental disorder".[1][2][3] Kaya was transferred to a psychiatric hospital, from where he was released due to a report attesting him as having claustrophobia.[1][3]

With his freedom, he stabbed three people in Alanya, a music hall owner called "Dedo", a procurer called "Mehmet of Ağrı" and Fırat S., of whom two died later.[1][2] Since he had a psychiatric report, he was not detained during his trial.[1]

Kaya killed two wardens of Alanya prison, Kemal Aksakal and Hasan Askeroğlu, by stabbing them in the street.[1][2] He was placed in Manisa Psychiatric Hospital with the diagnosis of a personality disorder.[1][2][3]

In the night of 13 March 2000, he murdered his roommate, the rapist and child killer Ayhan Kartal, nicknamed "The Beast of Izmir" (Turkish: İzmir canavarı), he and Tayfun Şahin stabbed Kartal in the throat and the stomach.[1][2][3][5][6][7]

Following this crime, Kaya was nicknamed "The Babyface Killer" (Turkish: Bebek yüzlü katil).[1] In 2001, he was arrested and placed in Şanlıurfa Prison.[2][3]

Briefly after his release, he killed Mehmet Poyraz, who lived in his parental home in Gaziantep.[4][8] Kaya was again captured in November 2013 by the Turkish Gendarmerie forces after a fierce shootout.[4]

Ali Kaya escaped from the semi-open prison in Şanlıurfa in 2003.[1] He was apprehended in 2004 when a suspicious vehicle was stopped in the village of Mahmutlar, Alanya.[1][3] He possessed a fake ID card under the name Erdal Yılmaz.[1] A long "death list" was found on him, which included the names of notable businessmen and people he claims abused him during his childhood.[1] Kaya stated in his interrogation that "he would confront his enemies and the sinners. He was not successful so far. However, he would cleanse the society of bad people".[1]

On 5 January 2014, Ali Kaya managed to escape for a second time.[1][2][8][9] During visitation hours at 10:30 local time on Sunday, he apparently walked out of Gaziantep Prison with the crowd of visitors.[1][2][8][9] His absence was noticed only during the physical check of inmates in the evening.[1][8]

Kaya is considered by the authorities to be extremely dangerous, and both police and gendarmerie forces launched an extensive manhunt for his capture.[4] It was discovered that he went to Adana and Mersin, and had plans to cross the Syrian border.[9] He was captured by security forces in downtown Gaziantep on 3 March 2014 as he fled from the house of a friend of his.[4][9] He was found in possession of a handgun and a death list of ten persons when he was apprehended.[9] Kaya was returned to the prison he had escaped from.[9]

• List of serial killers by country
• List of serial killers by number of victims