Background
Ali Kaya, nicknamed the 'Baby-Faced Killer' in the press, was reported to be a man born in Gaziantep. Most of what is known comes from news reports and compilations, and details such as the number of victims vary by source. According to published accounts he was held responsible for ten deaths, although some 2014 reports mentioned lower figures.
The case is usually traced back to 1997, when a relative was killed in Alanya. Reports say he received a prison term of about five years for this, was held in Silifke Prison and was released on parole. In the following years, psychiatric reports became decisive in how his cases unfolded.
To understand the file it helps to know that two separate legal tracks operate in such cases: the trial that determines criminal responsibility, and the security measures applied according to a person's mental health. In this file the two were often confused and were frequently summarised publicly as 'released without a sentence'.
What happened
Reports say new attacks occurred in Alanya around 2000. In some of those cases, psychiatric reports meant no sentence was imposed and treatment in a psychiatric hospital was ordered instead. According to accounts, another death occurred while he was being treated at a mental-health hospital in Manisa.
What made the file most widely discussed were the escapes. In 2003 he escaped from a prison in Şanlıurfa and was reportedly recaptured about a year later. He was caught again in November 2013, and on 5 January 2014 he escaped from a prison in Gaziantep; staff reportedly noticed his absence during a headcount.
Recapture and aftermath
After the escape, gendarmerie and police teams carried out a wide search, and he was recaptured in March 2014. Reports say he was armed when caught and was alleged to have been planning to harm certain people; these claims are known from press accounts rather than from final court judgments.
Psychiatric assessments proved decisive in the proceedings, and a security measure was imposed under which he was to be held in a psychiatric institution. The decision raised the question of how convicts with mental illness who have escaped custody should be monitored.
Why it is still discussed
The case is among the examples frequently cited in Turkish debates on forensic psychiatry and prison security. The main questions are how mental-health reports affect criminal responsibility, how people should be monitored after reports that they cannot be held in a closed setting, and what gaps exist in prison security.
This text is written with respect for those who lost their lives. Victims are not named, out of consideration for their relatives' privacy.