Eri's remains arrive from L.A. for burial
Eri's remains arrive from L.A. for burial
JAKARTA (JP): The remains of Tri Harto Darmawan, known as Eri and a victim of the Los Angeles triple murder, was flown home to Jakarta yesterday, a week after the arrival of Gina Sutan Aswar's body, another victim of the murder.
Eri's brother, Hernoko Dewantono, alias Oki, 30, has been accused by the Los Angeles police of perpetrating the murder that is now being investigated here in Jakarta by the city police.
Delivering his eulogy at Eri's funeral ceremony at the Tanah Kusir cemetery in South Jakarta, their father, Hendarno Hendarmin, an ex-bank employee, could not hide his deep sorrow and was forced to pause several times during the eulogy.
His ex-wife and the mother of Eri, Oki and their brother Tito, Sekartini Ramadidjaya, was visibly distraught from the moment the coffin containing Eri's remains was brought to her home on Jl. Bank 19 in Pejaten Barat subdistrict, South Jakarta.
Tito, the second of the three Hendarno-Sekartini children, also failed to stop crying while reciting the azan (Moslem call to prayer) over his younger brother's deceased body at the funeral rite.
Tito and Sekartini picked up Eri's corpse from the Los Angeles County coroner and arrived aboard a Garuda Indonesia plane at the Soekarno-Hatta airport at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday. The coffin was immediately driven to Sekartini's house, where her family members, relatives and friends were waiting.
Like Gina, the arrival of Eri again attracted media people, though far fewer.
While trapped in a traffic jam on the way to the house, the convoy was approached by newspaper boys offering magazines with news of the Oki case as their cover stories.
After Friday prayers, and a prayer at Sekartini's home, the body was taken to the public cemetery to be buried.
Eri's corpse had been kept in a storage locker in Los Angeles along with the bodies of Gina and an Indian businessman until they were found in August of last year.
Oki has been in Jakarta police custody since his arrest on Jan. 7 for passport forgery. Now, he is also being questioned for his alleged role in the murder of the three victims as accused by the Los Angeles police.
Since his arrest, police have not allowed anyone, including his family and lawyers, to see Oki, worrying that his testimony might get distorted.
In a two-minute interview with reporters prior to the arrival of Eri's body, Hendarno insisted that he and other relatives badly need to meet with Oki.
"Wouldn't any father want to meet with his own son?" he asked reporters.
This was the first time Hendarno had spoken with reporters since the murder was reported by the media.
He, however, refused to answer questions from reporters, such as if he was sure that Oki had killed the three victims.
Asking about a letter believed to be written by Oki while in police custody, Hendarno said: "I have not read, nor even seen, a single letter from him."
In Oki's letter shown to reporters by the police, he rejects the lawyers appointed by his father from Ruhut Sitompoel, Tommy Sihotang & Associates.
Hendarno added, "I know my son better than anyone else."
Ruhut said: "None of us know if it's Oki's handwriting or, if it is, if he did it under pressure."
The most important thing, he said, is to, "give us or his family a chance to meet with Oki." (bsr)