One member of a 15-man team suspected in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi dressed up in his clothes and was captured on surveillance cameras around Istanbul on the day the journalist was killed, CNN reported, citing a senior Turkish official.
CNN obtained exclusive law enforcement surveillance footage, part of the Turkish government’s investigation, that appears to show the man leaving the consulate by the back door, wearing Khashoggi’s clothes, a fake beard and glasses.
The same man was seen in Khashoggi’s clothing, according to the Turkish case, at the city’s world-famous Blue Mosque just hours after the journalist was last seen alive entering the consulate on Oct. 2.
The man in the video, identified by the official as Mustafa al-Madani, was allegedly part of what investigators have said was a hit squad, sent to kill the journalist at the Saudi consulate during a scheduled appointment to get papers for his upcoming wedding.
In the apparent cover-up that followed Khashoggi’s death, Madani, 57, who is of similar height, age and build to Khashoggi, 59, was used as a decoy for the journalist, according to the Turkish official.
The senior Turkish official told CNN that the video showed Madani was brought to Istanbul to act as a body double.
“You don’t need a body double for a rendition or an interrogation,” the official said. “Our assessment has not changed since October 6. This was a premeditated murder, and the body was moved out of the consulate.”
Saudi Arabia admitted Khashoggi died inside the consulate in İstanbul during a “brawl,” yet it did not explain the murder in full detail or where the body is.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly will tell the story of the murder in “full nakedness” during his party’s parliamentary meeting on Tuesday.