Alleged cyanide killer on trial

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Cibinong District Court opened on Monday the trial of a 23-year- old who allegedly killed with poison last January two brothers and their sister.

Prosecutor Djamil Zaini charged Budiono Mujiono, alias Maman, with premeditated murder.

"The defendant killed the three by lacing their coffees with cyanide," he told the court presided over by judge Edison Muhamad.

The prosecutor said that the victims -- Mugiono, who was a meatball maker in Pasar Ciluer, Bogor; his sister Karni and younger brother Narno -- were found dead on Jan. 25 in Karni's house in Cimandala village, Sukaraja district.

In the investigation, the prosecutors found that it was Karni who introduced Budiono to her brothers as a shaman from Dukuh Tukulan village in Klaten, Central Java, who helped in curing her ill step-child, identified as Erin.

Budiono was later invited to Bogor on June 24, to lead a prayer with the three victims at Karni's house. He promised to pray over Karni's decision to sell her house and for the increased profitability of Mugiono's business, where the younger siblings worked.

Earlier in the day, Mugiono had received Rp 50 million (US$5,200) from the sale of his secondhand car, with Rp 12 million to be paid the next day.

Mugiono had the money on his personage when he went to Karni's house as he intended to stay the night.

After the prayer, the defendant put cyanide in the victims' coffee before taking Mugiono's money. He left the house at about 3:30 a.m. for Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, where he boarded a flight back to Central Java.

Bogor Police officers arrested him on Feb. 2 at his hideout in the Central Java capital of Semarang.

The prosecutor charged him under the Criminal Code, which carries the maximum sentence of death for premeditated murder.

The court has adjourned the hearing until next week.