Naman Shrestha
HBO’s ‘The Palu Family: Under a Dark Spell’ is a Turkish three-part documentary series that chronicles the dark secrets of the Palu family, making it one of Turkey’s most complicated and disturbing cases. The close-knit family was manipulated and controlled by Tuncer Ustael, who tortured, exploited, and killed members of the family. The investigation uncovered all of Tuncer’s crimes and how he managed to break apart the Palu family.
Tuncer Ustael Allegedly Manipulated the Palu Family Into Obeying Him
Son of Abbas and Fikriye Ustael and brother to Cigdem Kotil, Tuncer Ustael inserted himself in the Palu family by marrying Emine Palu in the western province of Kocaeli. In the years that followed, the couple had a son, Enes S. Ustael, and a daughter, Zeynep Ustael. Tuncer told the Palu family that he could control jinns. Soon, a feud erupted between Emine’s father, Harun, and her brother-in-law, Ahmet Tahnal, which resulted in the latter’s death. It also led to Harun getting convicted and sentenced for Ahmet’s murder. Making the most of the vulnerable state of the family, Tuncer gradually became the leader of the pack as he lived with them, including Isa, Fatih, Emine, Meryem, Melike, and the kids, in a car in August 2008.
It is alleged that soon, Tuncan tried to turn everyone against Meryem by telling them that she had been working with the Tahnal family, who were hunting them after Ahmet’s death. As per the Palu family, Tuncer tortured and raped multiple members of the family, including Meryem’s daughter, Melike. However, he claimed that Meryem had been drugging and raping him. He then reportedly starved Meryem to death in 2008 before allegedly poisoning her daughter, Melike, with vinegar and spirits in 2009. Tuncan convinced the group not to tell the police about the murders and buried the remains with their help. In 2011, the Palu family members reportedly confessed to everything they witnessed and did alongside Tuncer, for which they were all taken into custody.
Since the police couldn’t recover the remains of either Meryem or Melike, they released them due to a lack of evidence. Not long after, the Palu family made an appearance on a reality TV show titled ‘Müge Anlı ile Tatlı Sert’ and publicly accused Tuncer Ustael of killing Meryem and Melike. They also alleged that he had manipulated them through jinns and extorted their money. On the other hand, Tuncer and his wife, Emine, denied those allegations. As the investigation was reopened, the authorities reportedly arrested Harun, Hava, Isa, Fatih, and Ayşe in Kocaeli and Tuncer and Emine in Istanbul in 2018.
Tuncer Ustael is Currently Incarcerated at a Turkish Prison
Tuncer Ustael was indicted for abduction, credit card fraud, and murder, while other members of the Palu family were accused of kidnapping and aiding and abetting the murder suspect. During the trial, Hava told the jury that her son, Isa, helped the defendant bury Meryem because he allegedly threatened him with jinns. Her daughter, Ayşe Palu, also claimed that he had sexual intercourse with her to “exorcise her jinns.” In February 2020, Tuncer was given a back-to-back life sentence for the murder of Meryem Tahnal. Meanwhile, Emine, Fatih, Hava, İsa, and Ayşe Palu were given sentences ranging from 8 to 12 years. However, the Sakarya Regional Court of Justice 1st Criminal Chamber overturned the conviction due to a procedural error because four of the defendants were represented by the same defense attorney.
Their retrial took place in the Kocaeli 7th Heavy Penal Court and in October 2023, Tuncer was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for “intentional killing with monstrous intent or by causing torture, or against a descendant or ancestor, or spouse or sibling” in connection with Meryem Tahnal’s killing. In addition, he was also sentenced to four years for deprivation of liberty and three years for misuse of a credit card. Meanwhile, the other five defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 8 years and 4 months to 14 years and 2 months for aiding intentional killing and deprivation of liberty. As of today, Tuncer Ustael is serving his sentence at a Turkish prison. He claims that Meryem’s remains were moved and knows where they are, but refuses to let the authorities know.
You must be logged in to post a comment.