Cold-blooded killer gets life for murder of Yorkshire woman in Turkey

Anne Bury, 56, died when she was gunned down at a villa in Dalyan, Turkey, in September 2013, along with her son Alex and mother Cecilia, who were left injured.

Her family issued a statement today after gardener Veli Acar was jailed for life by a Turkish court.

It said: “We are relieved that the court case in Turkey has finally reached its conclusion and that justice has been done.

“The facts are that Anne’s murderer, Acar, stole in to the family villa in the middle of the night while they slept. He shot and killed defenceless Anne in cold blood and left her 87-year-old mother and 25-year-old son for dead.

“Although Anne was not able to give evidence and defend her reputation in person she did leave behind irrefutable documentary evidence which showed that there was no romantic relationship between her and her killer.”

The family said that Mrs Bury, from Swainby, North Yorkshire, had discovered the “dishonest and deceitful nature of her killer” and she had been planning to sack him as her property manager.

They said this is why he killed her.

“We also know that Anne’s killer was aware of what she intended to do and believe that Anne was killed in order to prevent her from doing so, as this would have revealed to his family and friends the lies he had peddled of a romantic relationship with Anne and the illegitimate source of his new-found wealth,” the statement said.

The family said: “We remember Anne as a caring, compassionate, considerate and trusting woman who did not deserve to suffer the murderous fate that befell her or the subsequent attempt by her killer to sully her reputation in the vain hope of achieving a lighter sentence.

“Although justice has been done, nothing can bring back Anne or restore the grievous mental and physical wounds inflicted by this evil man on Anne’s mother, son and wider family which will be with us for the rest of our lives.

“We would like to thank the mayor and the wonderful people of Dalyan and of Mugla (where Cecilia and Alex received medical treatment). Anne fell in love with Turkey and its people and it is such a dreadful shame that the actions of one person now blight all the happy memories we have of spending time there.”

In 2013 Alex Bury, who suffered a leg injury, described how he pleaded with the gunman to stop the attack, trying to reason with him before he opened fire on his mother.

Speaking from his bed in Mugla University Hospital, Mr Bury said Acar had apparently threatened the family earlier that weekend but was later released by police and returned, armed, to the Bury villa.

Mr Bury told The Times: “I tried to reason with him. I told him it didn’t have to be this way.

“He lifted the gun to his shoulder and gestured for me to go through to my mother and grandmother’s room.

“They had heard me talking and had locked themselves in the room.”

Acar, then 46, then gunned down Ms Bury as she cowered in the villa’s bathroom, it was reported.

He is said to have given himself up after the shooting.

Acar told police he had been in a relationship with Ms Bury but her family always said this was not the case and he had defrauded his victim out of thousands of pounds.

News of the shooting shocked neighbours in Ms Bury’s village in North Yorkshire, who said the family were lovely people who never got in trouble.

They said she had trained as a midwife, but had been working for an oil company in Dubai in a health role.

One neighbour called her “a real lady”.