Two men have been convicted of murder after they shot a Turkish man four times, trussed him up and buried his body in Epping Forest.
Remzi Akguc, 41, of Margery Street, Islington, and Yikmaz Coskun, 36, of no fixed address, were found guilty at the Old Bailey today of murdering Hidir Aksakal.
The pair shot Mr Aksakal, also known as Boxer Cetin, four times, including in the mouth, then wrapped him in tarpaulin and concealed his body in the woods close to Hollow Ponds, Snaresbrook.
Det Ch Insp Jamie Piscopo, from the homicide and major crime command, described the killing as a “cold blooded execution”.
He said: “The defendants went to great lengths to dispose of his body.
“They chose a remote part of Epping Forest for the burial, thinking presumably his remains would never be found. But they were stumbled across by a man out walking.”
On September 9 last year police were called just after 7pm after the man reported finding a body.
The remains were partially buried and wrapped in plastic.
Hands and legs were tightly bound with blue rope, and the cord also looped around the neck to bend the body over.
A relatively new shovel was found abandoned in shallow water a few yards away.
Police identified the body as Mr Aksakal, 53, a Turkish national and father, who lived in Margate, Kent.
A post-mortem examination showed he had been shot four times, including a final shot fired inside his mouth.
Police traced Mr Aksakal’s final movements to a meeting with the defendants in a restaurant in Green Lanes, Tottenham, three weeks earlier.
The three men had been heard arguing about a woman.
They went to Coskun’s house in Tottenham where Mr Aksakal was executed in the living room.
Investigations showed later in the day on August 17, Akguc went to a builders’ merchants and spent more than £230 on a shovel, panel saw, pick axe handle, tarpaulin, blue rope, trolley and two pairs of gloves.
Akguc and Coskun then used the tools to bury Mr Aksakal in boggy ground deep in Epping Forest.
Police traced the murder weapon to a sock in Coskun’s house, and also found blood stains in his living room.
Det Ch Insp Piscopo added: “While Akguc and Coskun took their time selecting a secluded part of the woods, they were less careful when buying tools to dispose of the body and were caught on CCTV. They were also caught on CCTV in the forest at the site of the burial.
“The evidence against them was overwhelming and I am pleased at their conviction today.”
A motive for the execution remains unclear but the court heard that a factor may have been the victim’s acquittal following a trial in 2002 into the murder of Bulent Giritli.
The defendants were also found guilty of preventing lawful burial.
They will be sentenced at the Old Bailey tomorrow.
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