Boyfriend named suspect in murder of pregnant student

Police arrested on Saturday a Trisakti University student for killing his pregnant girlfriend, Amanda Defina, a 22-year-old student of the same university.

West Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Suhardi Alius told the press they had arrested the primary suspect in the case, Ronald Johannes Ardean, 23.

"During his interrogation, the suspect confessed to losing control and killing (his girlfriend)," Suhardi said.

Amanda's father, Sapto Hartoyo, had informed the police on Thursday that his daughter had been missing for two days.

"We set up a team to track down her whereabouts by questioning her close friends," Suhardi said.

The investigators found that one of Amanda's friends kept changing his story, which raised their suspicions.

"We were certain (Ronald) was involved in her disappearance," Suhardi said.

Ronald told the police he killed Amanda on Wednesday at his house in Jatijajar housing complex in Cimanggis, Depok, when she asked him to marry her, because she was four months pregnant with his child.

He claimed he did not intend to kill her.

Afterward, he put Amanda in her Nissan Terrano and drove around to find a quiet place to dump her body. He changed his mind and instead abandoned the car on Jl. Soekarno-Hatta, Bandung, near the Leuwi Panjang bus terminal, returning to Jakarta on a public bus.

Ronald allegedly left a note in the car warning Amanda's father not to call the police.

On Friday, locals alerted the police of a "putrid smell" coming from the abandoned car. Police discovered Amanda's body when they opened the hatchback of the vehicle, and sent it to Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung for an autopsy.

Amanda was buried on Saturday afternoon at Tanah Kusir Cemetery, South Jakarta. -- JP