Elderly couple killed in robbery

JAKARTA (JP): A couple were found dead in their house on Jl. Hidup Baru in West Pademangan district, North Jakarta, early on Monday.

Gan Hen Hok, 50, was found with his throat cut while his wife, Chang Hui Moi, 40, died of multiple stab wounds. Police suspect a machete was used in the murders.

Relatives and local police detectives said there were signs of robbery, as wardrobes and shelves in the two-story house had been messed up, but a report on items stolen was not available.

Police said the couple, who ran a garment business at the house with 11 employees, were probably attacked by someone familiar to the victims.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said there were no signs of a forced entry through the front door.

As of Monday evening, police had taken no items as evidence from the crime scene.

According to officer Lubis, the bodies were found at 5 a.m. in separate rooms on the ground floor, by Nining, an employee who lived on the upper story.

"The employee first saw the half-naked body of Gan in the living room, with one of his hands holding a pen. His wife was then found in the bedroom," he said.

The couple, the parents of four grown-up children, lived on the ground floor.

Employees at the house told police investigators they heard nothing suspicious and only came downstairs when Nining alerted them.

A police source said Gan and his wife are thought to have been killed between 11 p.m. Sunday and 1 a.m. Monday.

"The motive could be revenge from business rivals, such as former employees, or relatives. They then could have tried to make the crime look like a robbery," Lubis said.

Relatives of the couple said the elderly Gan was well-known among cloth and garment traders in the busy Tanah Abang textile market in Central Jakarta, as he was a major supplier of children's and babies' clothes.

Sources close to the victims told police the couple were not on friendly terms with their children, but did not say why.

None of the four children of the victims had been questioned by police on Monday.

The two bodies were sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta for post mortem examinations before being cremated in Cilincing, North Jakarta. (emf)