‘Turkish prince’: Medical researcher who ordered murder of business associate by fake U.S. Marshal is found guilty

A Turkish nationalist who lived successful a California mansion and worked arsenic a biomedical researcher faces a lifelong situation condemnation for orchestrating the 2018 execution of a concern subordinate successful Vermont.

The national assemblage convicted Serhat Gumrukcu of conspiracy to perpetrate execution for hire, execution for prosecute and conspiracy to perpetrate ligament fraud, per tribunal records. Gumrukcu ordered his co-defendant Berk Eratay to person idiosyncratic termination 49-year-old Gregory Davis, who was acceptable to exposure Gumrukcu implicit a fraudulent lipid deal, records say.

According to a criminal complaint, the suspects enlisted an ex-jail defender named Jerry Banks to airs arsenic a U.S. Marshal cause and question to Davis’ location successful Danville and “arrest” him. Banks, dressed successful Marshal garb, enactment Davis successful handcuffs and drove him immoderate 15 miles distant wherever helium changeable the unfortunate aggregate times and near the assemblage successful a snowfall slope on the broadside of a road. Davis was a begetter of six with a large woman astatine the time, authorities said.

Banks pleaded guilty successful June 2023 and testified astatine that  Gumrukcu, whom helium lone knew arsenic the “Turkish Prince,” was down the plot, Burlington NBC affiliate WPTZ. The authorities pointed retired respective times that Gumrukcu often referred to himself by the moniker.

As Law&Crime previously reported, feds besides learned Gumruckcu besides called himself “His Royal Highness.” Feds laid retired the strategy successful court documents:

In the aboriginal probe of the case, Serhat Gumrukcu was identified arsenic a apt fishy progressive successful the execution due to the fact that Gumrukcu and his brother, Murat Gumrukcu, were the lone radical who appeared to person a quality with Davis that would perchance beryllium a motive for Davis’s execution. In 2017, Davis was threatening the Gumrukcus astir going to the FBI with grounds that the Gumrukcus were defrauding him successful a multimillion-dollar lipid woody that the Gumrukcus had entered into with Davis successful aboriginal 2015. The Gumrukcus failed to execute connected the woody and had made assorted claims astir their attempts to perform. Davis believed that the Gumrukcus had lied to him astir assorted matters. During 2017, Serhat Gumrukcu was facing felony fraud charges successful California authorities court. One facet of those fraud charges progressive bounced checks Serhat Gumrukcu had provided to the middleman successful the lipid deal, Gregory Gac. On the bounced checks, Serhat Gumrukcu falsely called himself “HRH Serhat Gumrukcu,” a notation to “His Royal Highness.”

The accusations continued by referencing the biosciences institution which Gumrukcu helped to motorboat — a institution which immediately distanced itself from him erstwhile it learned helium was arrested:

That aforesaid year, 2017, Serhat Gumrukcu was putting unneurotic a palmy woody that came unneurotic soon aft the murder, namely, his important ownership involvement successful a biotech company, Enochian Bioscience. Gumrukcu truthful had a beardown motive to forestall Davis from reporting yet different fraud, and apt threatening the Enochian deal. At present, Serhat Gumrukcu appears to ain implicit $100 cardinal worthy of Enochian stock. In May 2022, astir a week earlier his arrest, Serhat Gumrukcu generated $2 cardinal successful currency from an Enochian banal sale.

Neither Serhat nor Murat Gumrukcu had traveled to Vermont to personally termination Davis, truthful the astir apt crippled progressive a hired killer. Murat Gumrukcu, who lives successful Turkey, visited the United States betwixt December 2017 and March 2018. He was staying astatine Eratay’s erstwhile flat successful Las Vegas astatine the clip of the murder. Federal agents executed a hunt warrant astatine Eratay’s flat earlier Murat near the United States. Both Gumrukcus were interviewed successful aboriginal 2018 astir the murder, denying immoderate involvement. Indeed, Murat Gumrukcu falsely denied interaction with Gregory Gac, the middleman successful the lipid deal. Serhat Gumrukcu falsely minimized his engagement successful the lipid deal. Murat Gumrukcu has not returned to the United States since March 2018.

The papers past asserted that Banks “had nary relationship with either Serhat Gumrukcu oregon Gregory Davis.” The alleged transportation took clip to unravel:

The authorities discovered a concatenation connecting them: Banks was friends with Aron Ethridge, who was friends with Eratay, who worked for Gumrukcu. Multiple pieces of grounds supported the link. Banks met with Ethridge connected assorted occasions successful precocious 2017 arsenic the execution strategy was being finalized. Ethridge was the archetypal idiosyncratic Banks telephoned aft the murder. Ethridge did not look to person nonstop interaction with Gumrukcu, but helium did person interaction with Eratay. Indeed, the archetypal telephone Ethridge made aft receiving the postmurder telephone from Banks was to Eratay’s phone. Ethridge besides had nary transportation with Davis. Eratay was the evident nexus betwixt Ethridge and Gumrukcu.

The wealth besides required investigation. Again, from the document:

The authorities besides developed important corroboration of Eratay’s relation successful the conspiracy. Eratay’s slope records uncover implicit $150,000 successful ligament transfers from Turkish accounts controlled by Gumrukcu betwixt June and October of 2017, arsenic the execution strategy was building. Eratay cautiously and secretly transformed those funds into currency astatine the aforesaid time. Further, Eratay’s email relationship showed that helium documented idiosyncratic accusation astir Davis successful July 2017, including his afloat name, day of birth, spot of birth, and compartment telephone with a Vermont country code.

The authorities asserted that though the probe appeared to person gone acold from the public’s perspective, it remained ongoing — but “covert” — arsenic agents tracked down the indispensable leads.

“The coconspirators, from Banks to Gumrukcu, apt thought that they had gotten distant with the murder,” national prosecutors wrote.  But that unraveled erstwhile the authorities “chose to instrumentality overt steps.”

The feds said 1 of the witnesses — Ethridge — instantly flipped:

On April 6, 2022, Banks was arrested successful Wyoming. During a custodial interview, Banks made a fig of mendacious exculpatory statements. The adjacent day, Ethridge was approached by instrumentality enforcement. As noted successful the affidavits that volition beryllium submitted anterior to the detention hearing, though helium denied cognition of immoderate strategy successful his archetypal consensual interview, Ethridge soon reached retired to instrumentality enforcement to travel cleanable astir his role. Ethridge admitted that helium hired Banks to termination Davis and that helium was successful crook hired by Eratay (his erstwhile neighbour and person for years) and Gumrukcu to find idiosyncratic to execution Davis. Ethridge’s admissions are highly credible, arsenic they are accordant with the different grounds successful the case, and due to the fact that Ethridge has nary information to falsely implicate himself successful a murder. Ethridge has since been indicted and remains detained. The authorities anticipates that helium volition beryllium a witnesser astatine proceedings against Eratay, Gumrukcu, and Banks.

At the aforesaid time, national agents interviewed Eratay astatine his home, arsenic Eratay acknowledges. He spoke willingly to national agents, but successful doing so, made a fig of mendacious exculpatory statements, including a denial of knowing thing astir Davis.

Eratay pleaded blameworthy past year.

Davis’ widow filed a wrongful death suit against Gumrukcu.

Aaron Keller contributed to this report