Bloodbath in Turkey: Gardner Rushes British Woman’s Vacation Home with a Shotgun, Kills Her and Shoots Her Mother and Son

Daily Mail
September 10, 2013

Hit four times: Catherine Bury, 56, had locked herself in the bathroom but her attacker burst through and shot her.
Hit four times: Catherine Bury, 56, had locked herself in the bathroom but her attacker burst through and shot her.
Three generations of a British family have been shot while on holiday in Turkey – leaving one dead and two fighting for their lives in hospital.

Mother Catherine Bury had been celebrating her 56th birthday party at her luxury villa in the resort of Dalyan on Sunday when her gardener turned the party into a bloodbath.

As he shot her son Alex, 24, in the leg and her 87-year-old mother Cecille in the back, she fled up three flights of stairs to lock herself in a bathroom.

But the 46-year-old suspect pursued her, blasted off the lock with a pump-action shotgun and then shot her four times as she cowered on the tiled floor. She died at the scene.

The gardener, known only as VA, 46, is lead away by Turkish jandarma.
The gardener, known only as VA, 46, is lead away by Turkish jandarma.
Cecille was raced to hospital in Fethiye while Alex, who was taking a gap year before starting training as a doctor, was taken to Mugla University Hospital for treatment.

The gardener, identified only by his initials V.A., later gave himself up to the police and is due to appear in court later today.

Locals identified the gardener as Velli Acar, a local handyman and gardener who until last year also owned a boat running trips for tourists.

It is not yet clear what caused him to attack Miss Bury and her family, who had been coming to stay in their villa in the tiny fishing village for six years.

Rumours were circulating locally about the nature of the relationship between the gardener and the dead woman.

Described as a heavy drinker, Acar had been reported to police over alleged death threats and was arrested on Saturday. He was held overnight for questioning and released the following day.

Local news agency Dogan called the shootings a ‘crime of passion’.

They added that Mrs Bury, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, had argued with him on Friday and he had apparently threatened to kill her.

She had gone to the Turkish jandarma, a branch of the country’s armed forces that assumes police duties in some areas, and he was arrested on Saturday.

But after holding him overnight, officers let him go. He then armed himself with the shotgun and headed for the villa in the early hours of the morning.

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