Police suspicious of Oki's confession<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): City police are looking for more material
\nevidence and witnesses in Los Angeles to charge Hernoko Dewanto,
\nalias Oki, for his alleged role in an L.A. triple murder, says
\nMaj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto.<\/p>\n
"As of today, we still have not charged Oki for the killing
\nbecause we're still looking for more material evidence and
\nwitnesses to support his confession," the outgoing Jakarta police
\nchief told a press conference yesterday.<\/p>\n
Hindarto urged local media not to be too quick at naming Oki
\nas the killer.<\/p>\n
"I really hope that he will not be put on trial by the media,"
\nhe said. "Give us time to complete our investigation because our
\nevidence is scant."<\/p>\n
"So far," Hindarto said, "we are only charging him with
\nfalsifying passport documents."<\/p>\n
Oki, 30, has admitted under police questioning here that he
\nkilled all three suspects on separate occasions. But, according
\nto Hindarto: "A confession is not enough to charge someone
\nwithout evidence and witnesses to corroborate his confession."<\/p>\n
Four of Hindarto's senior officers from the crime
\ninvestigation directorate are scheduled to leave for Los Angeles
\ntoday and two others tomorrow.<\/p>\n
"They have been assigned to spend a week there to collect
\npossible evidence and question witnesses," he said.<\/p>\n
All material gathered must not only meet Indonesia's legal
\nprocedures but also be approved by authorized personnel at the
\nIndonesian consulate in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
"We have to reprocess everything we get in America in order to
\npresent it legally in our court later," Hindarto said.<\/p>\n
As stated by law, the suspect will be tried at the Central
\nJakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
Testimony<\/p>\n
During a series of police questioning sessions here, Oki
\nadmitted that he shot Suresh Michandani, his business partner of
\nIndian origin and also beat Gina Sutan Aswar, a young Indonesian
\nwoman, to death with a monkey wrench. Oki has also confessed to
\nkilling the third victim, his own brother Eri Tri Harto Darmawan,
\nwith a hammer.<\/p>\n
"We cannot, however, completely believe his confessions. Oki
\nhas given a different version at every questioning session done
\nin order to solidify his position as the main suspect," said
\nHindarto, who is going to be replaced by his deputy next Friday.<\/p>\n
Among witnesses in Los Angeles to be questioned by the Jakarta
\npolice are Oki's close friends, friends of the victims and the
\nowner of the storage locker in which the three decayed bodies
\nwere found in August.<\/p>\n
Here in Jakarta, the police have questioned at least three
\nwitnesses, including Anggi Hasti Benjamin Yatim, Oki's ex-wife,
\nRuyalti, his ex-girlfriend (also known as Ipunk), and the private
\ndriver Oki used during his stay in Los Angeles, Hindarto said.<\/p>\n
"Anggi admitted that she lived with Oki but knew nothing about
\nthe murder of Gina in their apartment," said Capt. Wahyu, one of
\nthe officers questioning the suspect. He refused to talk about
\nthe comments of the others.<\/p>\n
Oki has been wanted by the Los Angeles Police Department since
\nthe identification of the three bodies in December last year. He
\nwas later arrested by local police here in Central Jakarta on the
\nallegation of passport forgery.<\/p>\n
The initial police questioning of Oki was based on an arrest
\nwarrant from the LAPD along with several documents showing that
\nOki's fingerprints were found on the plastic used to cover the
\nthree bodies.<\/p>\n
So far, none of Oki's relatives, nor his family's lawyers,
\nhave been allowed to meet with Oki since he has been in police
\ncustody.<\/p>\n
"We want to get plain testimony from him," Hindarto said.
\n"We'll allow them later if all evidence has been completed."<\/p>\n
Rejection<\/p>\n
In a recent development, Oki reportedly wrote a letter to his
\nfather rejecting his father's lawyers from Ruhut Sitompoel, Tommy
\nSihotang & Associates. Police showed the letter to reporters
\nyesterday, in which Oki claims to have his own lawyers, though
\nthey were not named.<\/p>\n
But Ruhut, one of the lawyers hired by Oki's father, doubted
\nthe police version.<\/p>\n
"We really regret the police having shown Oki's private letter
\nto everyone, especially since his own father hasn't even received
\nit yet," Ruhut told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
"I don't know for sure if the police are trying to create
\nanother story, so let's just wait," he said. "Oki's father is
\ngoing to speak with reporters for the first time tomorrow."
\n(bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-suspicious-of-okis-confession-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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