'Oki had business problem with victim'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A United States detective testifying in the
\ntrial of an Indonesian charged with a Los Angeles triple murder
\nsaid yesterday one of the victims had a business problem with the
\nsuspect.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline Franco, 54, a deputy sheriff with the Los Angeles
\nPolice Department (LAPD), said this was why the suspect, Harnoko
\nDewantono, alias Oki, killed Suresh Mirchandani, an Indian
\nbusinessman.<\/p>\n
Franco said Mirchandani did not plan to pay the US$75,000 he
\nowed Oki for buying his dry-cleaning business, she said.<\/p>\n
Franco said she got the information after interrogating
\nMirchandani's bother-in-law, Jay Abdul Faraj.<\/p>\n
Jay had said Mirchandani wanted to leave Los Angeles to work
\nfor an airline in Kuwait.<\/p>\n
She said Jay was at a meeting between Oki, his lawyer and
\nMirchandani on Aug. 18, 1991.<\/p>\n
At the meeting Jay saw Oki was enraged because Mirchandani did
\nnot want to pay his debt, Franco said.<\/p>\n
Franco said she was in charge of investigating Mirchandani's
\ndisappearance. He was reported missing in August 1991.<\/p>\n
She said Mirchandani was supposed to go to a family party on
\nAug. 18, 1991, but never turned up.<\/p>\n
Oki, 32, is on trial for murdering Mirchandani, his female
\nfriend Gina Sutan Aswar and his younger brother Tri Harto
\nDarmawan, alias Eri, between August 1991 and November 1992.<\/p>\n
Franco said Jay did not say Oki had threatened Mirchandani.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Oki denied he was angry at Mirchandani.<\/p>\n
Franco said Jay told her Mirchandani feared Oki because Oki
\nknew \"persons who might harm him.\"<\/p>\n
She also said Oki telephoned Jay saying Jay did not need to
\nfear for Mirchandani's safety.<\/p>\n
Franco said she found a cheque for US$3,187 which Mirchandani
\nhad written for Oki, drawn from a Los Angeles bank.<\/p>\n
But Jay had denied Mirchandani signed it, she said<\/p>\n
Franco said investigations by LAPD forensic print specialist
\nKaren Chiarodit revealed the handwriting was Oki's.<\/p>\n
Oki denied this in court repeating the denial he made to
\nFranco during an interrogation.<\/p>\n
LAPD finger print specialist Daniel Woo had earlier testified
\nhe found Oki's finger prints on the cheque.<\/p>\n
The second and third witnesses were Marlyn Dawns and Charles
\nL. Claudell, two other LAPD finger print specialists.<\/p>\n
They said they found Oki's fingerprints and those and his
\ndomestic helper and driver, Mardi Hariyadi, on several items at
\nthe L.A. warehouse where the three bodies hidden in wooden boxes
\nwere found in August 1994.<\/p>\n
Oki's fingerprints were found on the boxes and a cassette
\nplayer and Mardi's were found on the boxes, cups, bowls and
\ndishes.<\/p>\n
Mardi said he handled the boxes but did not know what was in
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Presiding Judge I.G.K. Sukarata adjourned the trial until
\nThursday to hear testimonies from Gilbert Aquillard, a L.A.
\nexpert on fingerprint comparison. (07)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/oki-had-business-problem-with-victim-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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