MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee man has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide for the death of his girlfriend.
22-year-old Serkan Akcilad is accused of stabbing his girlfriend Silan Tut to death around January 24. She was found with 12 stab wounds. Akcilad failed to report the death to police until February 27, around 20 days after her death. He denies killing Tut.
According to the criminal complaint, Akcilad is thought to lived with her body for almost a month before voluntarily walking into the Police Administration building and reporting her dead. Tut’s body was found in their shared apartment on the 1300 block of N. 10th St. When police arrived, they described her body as “omitting a strong odor” and “appeared to be staged,” with her arms at her sides and a pillow under her head. They also found traces of blood under the apartment’s living room area rug, and drag marks.
Authorities say they found clothes with possible blood on them in the washing machine, a box cutter in the dishwasher, and takeout receipts from February 14-21 in the trash. They also found a variety of cleaning supplies and a receipt for them from January 24, the alleged day of Tut’s death. Akcilad denied doing any cleaning.
When he arrived at the police station, a nail was found lodged in his skull. He informed authorities he had attempted to take his own life using a nail gun. The nail had to be surgically removed at Froedert Hospital. The nail gun has not been located, but was purchased on Jaunary 25, according to a receipt found in Akcilad’s apartment.
Akcilad, a Turkish national, cited that he was “unfamiliar with the laws in this country,” as a reason for waiting to report her death.
Akcilad admitted to keeping up communication with Tut’s family in Turkey. According to the criminal complaint, he admitted to “sending her family a picture taken of her in December and telling them that it was a picture of her going to a wedding that day to prove that she was ok.” Witnesses reported hearing arguing and screaming from their apartment.
His bond is set to $1 million. He is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, March 19.
