THE TEENAGER ARRESTED in connection with the murder of two Co Down women in Turkey on Thursday had wanted to marry one of his victims’ 15-year-old daughter, it has been reported.

The Press Association cited sources who said that Marion Graham and Kathy Dinsmore, both from Newry, had their throats slit after Graham refused to allow the teenager marry her 15-year-old daughter Shannon.

PA also said that the 17-year-old – who appeared in court yesterday in connection with the deaths, but who has not been formally charged – had confessed to the killings.

The bodies of the two women, both aged 53, were found close to a graveyard in a forest 75 miles north of Kusadasi. The Grahams owned a holiday home in the historical city of Izmir, about 50 miles north of Kusadasi.

The Irish Daily Mail’s print edition reports that the 17-year-old, named as Walter Recep ‘Alex’ Cetin, had been dating Shannon for some time but that the two had fought last week.

It quoted Shannon’s father Raymond who said Cetin had initially claimed the two women had been kidnapped, but later admitted to killing the pair and brought detectives to the area where the two bodies had been left.

Cetin’s father, and a taxi driver, were also arrested in connection with the deaths.

Shannon is being assisted by a Department of Foreign Affairs official who has travelled to Izmir from the embassy in Ankara, while her father – who is separated from the deceased woman – travels to the area this morning to collect Shannon and the two women’s remains.