As the murderer of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink also came from Trabzon and was also under 18 years of age, Turkish police were investigating possible connections between the slayings of Santoro and Dink. In October 2007, Turkey's Court of Appeals affirmed the jail sentence for Santoro's killer. Following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, the killer was released from jail after serving less than 10 years of his sentence.