Man found guilty in 'mutilated body' landfill trial

Cumali Turhan's body was found at a landfill site almost two months after his death

A man has been found guilty of assisting in the murder of a father-of-two in a city bar and preventing the decent burial of his body, which was found in landfill.

Ciprian Ilie, 45, of no fixed abode, helped to clean up the killing of Cumali Turhan at the Barista bar in Chelmsford in November last year, and his mutilated body was discovered nearly eight weeks later near Colchester.

Ilie told the trial he had been forced at knifepoint to clean up the murder scene, and the jury heard the victim had been killed as a result of an affair with another man's girlfriend.

Ilie was convicted after a three-week trial and is due to be sentenced on Tuesday.

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions which some people may find upsetting

Ciprian Ilie told his trial that he would have been killed if he had not cleared up the murder scene

It was alleged during the trial at Chelmsford Crown Court that Mr Turhan was stabbed in the neck by Ceyhan Dinler, after hearing Mr Turhan "had a relationship with Mr Dinler's girlfriend".

Mr Turhan's "severed penis and severed tip of his tongue" were found in a bin inside the bar on Duke Street.

Essex Police said Mr Dinler remained at large having fled the country just hours after the murder.

'So much blood'

Mr Ilie, a homeless Romanian national who did odd jobs for Mr Dinler, said he was called to Barista at 02:00 GMT on 19 November.

"I did not expect what I saw," he told the jury. "Everywhere [Mr Dinler] was covered in blood.

"Initially, I thought it was wine; it didn't really cross my mind it could be blood — so much blood."

Mr Ilie said he spotted more blood on the floor and the walls, before he noticed "a foot under the table" attached to Mr Turhan's dead body.

The 45-year-old said he was "so shocked" and considered running, but told his trial Mr Dinler held him at knifepoint and said: "If you don't help me, I'll kill you and [your girlfriend]".

Essex Police said that Ceyhan Dinler left the UK via London Stansted Airport in Essex on 19 November

Prosecuting counsel Christopher Paxton KC said Mr Ilie helped to clean up the murder scene at the bar, put Mr Turhan's body in a bin and brought Mr Dinler clean clothes.

The defendant confessed what happened to a worker at a homeless charity, who then called police, but stressed he had "acted under duress", Mr Paxton said.

Police officers meticulously and sensitively searched through 1,500 tonnes of landfill waste in an area of 5,000 sq metres - the size of a full football pitch - in Stanway before finding Mr Turhan's body on 12 January.

The jury found Ilie guilty by majority verdict on two counts - assisting an offender (murder), and preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body.

Ilie appeared emotional in the dock as the verdicts were read out after more than nine hours of deliberation.

Det Ch Insp Louise Metcalfe, from Essex Police, said it had been an extremely complex case.

"What started as a missing person report escalated quickly into a murder investigation when it became apparent Cumali Turhan had come to serious harm," she said.

"At the heart of this case is a father. Cumali has a young daughter who must now grow up without him, and grieving parents in Turkey."