AFP
A 22-year-old Turkish man who was convicted of brutally killing his girlfriend while still a teenager in a case that sent shockwaves through Turkey died Friday in an apparent suicide in prison, state media reported.
Cem Garipoglu was found hanged in the Istanbul prison where he was serving a 24-year jail sentence for murdering Munevver Karabulut in 2009, the state-run Anatolia agency reported.
An investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding Garipoglu's death after a request from his family.
Garipoglu, the son of a wealthy family, had confessed that he stabbed his 17-year old girlfriend in his family's luxury villa, cut off her head and dumped her body in a garbage bin in downtown Istanbul.
The grisly murder had sparked widespread uproar and repulsion, especially after the suspect managed to evade justice for more than six months.
Garipoglu, who was given a lighter term because he was below 18 at the time of the murder, was convicted in 2011 of intentionally killing his girlfriend.
He said he killed Karabulut after he found out that his girlfriend was cheating on him.
Garipoglu's mother and uncle were also sentenced to three years in jail for hiding evidence after police established their villa was cleaned up after the murder.
Karabulut's father had recently published a book about his daughter's murder in which he wished "this psychopath (Garipoglu) had killed himself".