A homeless man was jailed today for assisting a murder after a seven-week police search of a landfill found a man's mutilated body.
Ciprian Ilie, 44, was found guilty today of assisting an offender and preventing the lawful and decent burial of Cumali Turham, 46.
Turham had not been seen after entering the Barista bar in Chelmsford, on November 19, and his body was found on January 11.
He was the subject of a painstaking 47-day search at the Enovert waste site in Stanway, near Colchester in Essex.
The search saw officers scour an area the side of a football pitch which was five metres deep.
The final search is believed to be the first time an active police search of a landfill site in the UK has recovered a body.
However, Essex Police are still searching for 38-year-old Ceyhan Dinler who left the UK from Stansted airport on the day Cumali was reported missing.
Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe said: 'This case is extremely complex and has involved teams of officers and staff working in very difficult circumstances to uncover what happened to a father-of-two.
'What started as a missing person report escalated quickly into a murder investigation when it became apparent to us that Cumali Turhan had come to serious harm.
'At the heart of this case is a father. Cumali has a young daughter who must now grow up without him and grieving parents in Turkey.
'We were determined to do everything we could to find Cumali and secure justice for his family.'
A two-week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Ilie, of no fixed address, was arrested at a homeless shelter.
During interview, Ilie told officers he received a call in the early hours of November 19 and was told to go Barista bar in Duke Street in Chelmsford.
He said that he went into the premises and was faced with blood on the floor and a body in the corner.
Ilie went on to say that he was threatened with a knife and forced to help pick up the body and put it in a bin at the back of the bar.
He told officers that both he and his girlfriend had been threatened, and so did what he was ordered to do.
The jury heard that Cumali had been drinking in the evening before his disappearance with Ceyhan Dinler at The Globe in Rainsford Road, Chelmsford.
CCTV footage showed them leaving the pub and walking to Barista in nearby Duke Street. Cumali was not seen alive again.
An inquest in September heard he had suffered multiple stab wounds before his death, and two body parts were found at the scene in Duke Street.
The coroner, Michelle Brown, stated the provisional cause of death as consistent with stab wounds to the neck.
