LONDON—A man accused of murdering a DJ who ran a popular radio station for the Turkish community in London has named two of his co-defendants as being involved and has claimed he only disposed of the body because he was “terrified.”
Ali Kavak, 26, Junior Kettle, 32, Steffan Gordon, 34, Tejean Kennedy, 32, and Samuel Owusu-Opoku, 29, all deny murdering Mr. Alpergin. The same five men deny falsely imprisoning Mr. Alpergin, who was 43, and his girlfriend Gözde Dalbudak, 33, while Mr. Kavak, Mr. Kettle, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Owusu-Opoku deny kidnap.
Erdogan Ulcay, 56, denies attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett, KC, said it was believed the crime was linked to the world of drugs and the jury has heard two key suspects—Ali Yildirim and Cem Orman–have fled the country and are now fugitives.
They are believed to be members of a notorious gang called the Tottenham Turks.
Mr. Kavak began giving evidence earlier this week and on Thursday he was asked by his barrister Henry Blaxland, KC, about the events of the night of Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, 2022.
Mr. Kavak—who said he had been hanging around with Mr. Yildirim and Mr. Orman since breaking up with his long-time girlfriend—said he was involved in ferrying people around between various locations in north London but had no idea what was going on.
‘Bro, I Killed Him’
Mr. Kavak said, “Somebody said ‘bro, I killed him.’”Mr. Blaxland asked, “Who said it?”
After a long pause in the witness box, Mr. Kavak replied, “Tejean Kennedy.”
He was asked what his reaction was and he said, “At that point, I was just scared, terrified, mixed emotions, shocked.”
Mr. Kavak said he broke down and cried and was taken downstairs by Mr. Yildirim and Mr. Kennedy.
Mr. Blaxland asked, “Did Ali Yildirim say anything?”
“Yes. He said ‘Don’t worry, this one won’t say anything. I know where his family live,’” replied Mr. Kavak.
Mr. Kavak said he and Mr. Owusu-Opoku were then told to go and burn a Fiat Doblo van in which Mr. Alpergin had been abducted from his home in Oakwood.
When he returned to the café he said he was told to drive his Volkswagen Polo car back to the courtyard at the rear of the Stadium Lounge and reverse it in.
Mr. Blaxland asked him what happened next.
Mr. Kavak said: “I saw three men come out of the yard with a bin bag. It looked like a heavy item … I was told to open the boot.”
Mr. Blaxland asked, “Did you recognise them?”
Recognised 2 Men Carrying Victim’s Body
He identified them as Steffan Gordon and Subject One, an individual who cannot be identified for legal reasons.Mr. Kavak said the third man was black, but he did not recognise him.
Mr. Blaxland asked him, “Do you know what was in the bag?”
Mr. Kavak said, “It all became clear that somebody had been killed, I’d been asked to reverse the car, the bin bag, I realised it was a body. It made sense at that point.”
Mr. Kavak said he then returned to the café in Pretoria Road and was told to drive his car, with the body in the boot, to a unit on the Triumph Industrial Estate in Tottenham and “await further instructions.”
Mr. Kavak said at one point Mr. Yildirim told him to “go to Dover, hide the body and throw it in the river” but he said then the plan changed and he was told to go with a man called Yigit Hurman and burn it.
But he said he and Hurman balked at the idea and instead drove to Loughton in Essex and just dumped the body, after removing the bin bag and bedsheets in which it had been wrapped.
Mr. Alpergin’s body was found near Oakwood Hill industrial estate in Loughton on the morning of Oct. 15, 2022.
Mr. Kavak said Mr. Yildirim then rang him and said, “I need you to do one more thing and then it will be over.”
He said he was told to go home and get his passport and then travel to Amsterdam with Hurman.
Denies he was Heading to Turkey
The court heard Mr. Kavak had a Turkish identity card on him when he was arrested.Mr. Blaxland asked him: “Were you intending to go to Turkey?”
“No,” he replied.
Mr. Kavak is the last of the five alleged killers to give evidence.
Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Owusu-Opoku declined to give evidence, while Gordon admitted kidnapping Mr. Alpergin but said he waited in an alley outside the Stadium Lounge for more than five hours and played no part in his torture or murder.
Mr. Kettle, who finished giving evidence on Tuesday, claimed he was not even aware there had been a kidnap. He claimed he waited with his friend, Mr. Gordon, outside the Stadium Lounge for more than five hours and then panicked, burning his clothes and destroying his car and mobile phone.
Opening the case, Mr. Aylett said Mr. Alpergin—a popular Turkish Cypriot DJ who owned the Bizim FM radio station—was brought back to the Stadium Lounge, tortured and killed.
A post-mortem examination found Mr. Alpergin had suffered 94 separate injuries, including 14 rib fractures and brain damage caused by a heavy blow to the head.
The prosecutor said Mr. Alpergin had been “stripped naked and horrifically tortured.”
Ms. Dalbudek was freed after two days tied up in a toilet. She made a statement to the police but then returned to Turkey and has refused to give evidence at the trial.
Gordon had pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnap and Mr. Owusu-Opuku had admitted perverting the course of justice.
Another man, Yigit Hurman, 18, has also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.
The trial is due to last until the end of November.
