Car showroom owners slain

Car showroom owners slain

BOGOR (JP): A middle-aged couple was found murdered in their
Kijang van in a quiet valley where rice and bananas are grown in
Pasirmuncang village, Caringin, on Friday morning.

Local police identified the victims as Didi Sasmita, 59, and
wife Susanti, 51. Both were the owners of car showroom Andrian
Motor in Cibinong.

Medical staff at Bogor's Red Cross Hospital revealed that the
couple suffered serious injuries.

Didi's throat had been slashed while his wife sustained head
injuries and burns to her back.

The couple's relatives are convinced that the motive of the
killing was vengeance, especially considering that personnel
belongings were not removed from the bodies.

Melianti, the couple's second child, told reporters that many
of her parents' belongings, such as a handbag, a wallet
containing Rp 1 million, two mobile phones, luxury watches, a
gold ring, a necklace and earrings were still with the bodies.

According to the 26-year-old woman, she and her three sisters
and a brother were with their parents at the showroom on
Thursday.

After her father closed the business at 7 p.m., they were all
ready to return to their home on Jl. Batutulis.

"But father then invited us to have bakso (meatball soup) in
downtown Bogor," she recalled.

The family left the showroom in two cars: the couple's five
children in a Suzuki Esteem sedan followed by their parents in
the Kijang.

"We first drove in a line before getting onto Jagorawi toll
road from the Cibinong tollgate," Melianti said.

A few minutes after entering the toll road, those in the
Esteem lost sight of their parent's van.

"We thought that the Kijang must have been stuck in a line or
something ... we just went ahead to find bakso," she added.

When the children reached home, they nervously waited the
whole night for their parents and tried contacting them on their
mobile phones, but received no answer.

"Only in the morning were we informed by the police that our
parents had been killed," she said.

The murder is being investigated by the Bogor Police. (24/ylt)