Kurtulus Kalican, who is serving a 64-year-prison sentence for sneaking into his ex-wife's New London home in 2003 and killing her boyfriend, has asked a judge to order DNA testing on bullet fragments he says may have exited victim David Romero's thigh and struck his ex-wife in the leg.

Kalican also shot and pistol-whipped his ex-wife, Ayfer Kaya, during the Sept. 21, 2003 attacks at 86 Blackhall St., according to court documents and testimony. She was critically injured, but recovered.

On Monday, Kalican, 66, was transported from the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield to New London Superior Court, where his case was tried before a jury in 2006. A jury of 12 members found Kalican guilty of first-degree manslaughter, attempted murder, first-degree assault, violation of a protective order; and carrying a pistol without a permit.

Judge Hillary B. Strackbein appointed attorney M. Fred DeCaprio to represent Kalican and told him DeCaprio would advise him about whether there's a valid basis for ordering the DNA testing. If so, Strackbein would hold a hearing.

In order to obtain a court order for DNA testing, Kalican is required to show there is reasonable probability he would not have been prosecuted or convicted, or that his sentence would have been altered, if DNA results favorable to his case had been available.

In an objection to the motion for DNA, Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Paul J. Narducci wrote that Kalican has failed to show how any evidence derived from the proposed DNA testing would change the outcome and that the evidence had been overwhelming in support of Kalican's conviction.

"Even assuming the most favorable result possible from the requested DNA testing — that the projectile traveled through Romero's gunshot wound to his leg, also struck and shattered Kaya's ankle, there was overwhelming testimoninal and forensic evidence supporting the verdicts of the jury," Narducci wrote. "Romero suffered another gunshot wound that traveled through his shoulder, chest wall and lung. Ms. Kaya also suffered another gunshot wound through her arm and into her chest. She suffered signficant injuries to her face and mouth."

Kaya had testified about the ordeal at the trial, and the jury heard a recording of the 911 call she made at the beginning of the incident in which Kalican could be heard yelling in Turkish and pulling the trigger of the gun several times. According to trial testimony, when he was arrested, Kalican told the police where to find the revolver he had used and asked police how much time he would be serving. Additionally, he admitted to his brother that he had shot his ex-wife and her friend, according to court testimony.

Kalican was divorced from Kaya in January 2003, but still owned the home at 86 Blackhall St. where she lived with their three children. According to testimony, he drove to New London from his apartment in New Jersey after learning that Romero was at the home with his ex-wife. Arriving about 4 a.m., he retrieved a Colt .357 magnum pistol that he had kept in the basement and, after using his keys to enter the house, sneaked into his ex-wife's bedroom.

Kaya had testified that Kalican shot Romero in the groin immediately upon entering the bedroom, then shot him in the chest as the two men wrestled near the threshold of the bedroom. She said Kalican shot her twice and then beat her with the pistol after he ran out of ammunition.

The state Appellate Court affirmed the conviction in 2008, and the state Supreme Court refused to take up the matter on further appeal. In 2012, the City of New London paid an undisclosed sum to Kalican's ex-wife, Kaya, and Romero's sister to settle a wrongful death lawsuit that police failed to respond properly to escalating domestic violence incidents involving Kaya and Kalican.

k.florin@theday.com