Evidence mounts against Oki

Evidence mounts against Oki

JAKARTA (JP): A young woman told a court here yesterday that
she sent money for the rental on a locker to defendant Harnoko
Dewantono in the United States two years ago.

Dewantono, alias Oki, is now on trial for triple murder in
Central Jakarta District Court.

"He asked me to send Rp 250,000 which he said he would use to
pay the rent of a U-Haul Storage locker in Los Angeles," said
Gita Setiani, 29, a former girlfriend of Oki.

Oki had told the court earlier that he kept one of his victims
in a box which he stored in a U-Haul Storage locker in the North
Ridge area.

The Los Angeles Police Department found the body of Gina Sutan
Aswar, Oki's friend, inside a box on Aug. 10, 1994.

The police also found two other boxes in the same locker which
contained the mutilated bodies of Indian businessman Suresh
Gobind Mirchandani and Oki's younger brother, Eri Tri Harto
Dharmawan.

It is believed they were all slain by Oki in Los Angeles.

Gita Setiani also testified that she once paid Oki's hospital
expenses when he was hospitalized in Ongkomulyo Medical Center, a
private hospital in East Jakarta.

Oki, however, denied all Gita's testimonies.

"It's not true Your Honor. I never asked her to send me the
money to pay the storage rent, neither did she pay my hospital
expenses," he told Judge I.G.K. Sukarata.

Gita, who said she met Oki in October1993 and had been his
girlfriend for seven months, told the court that she first heard
of Gina through a friend. She said the friend told her that the
woman was killed in Los Angeles and that her boyfriend at the
time, Oki, was believed to have been involved in the killing.

"But when I asked Oki about this, he told me that it was a
rumor. He asked me to ignore it and said that the rumor was
slanderous," said Gita, who appeared distressed, wiping away her
tears.

However, her relationship with Oki, she said, grew sour after
that and she broke him off with him.

She also told the court that she knew of Oki's brother Eri by
name only and said she knew nothing of the Indian businessman
Mirchandani.

Yesterday's hearing was also supposed to hear testimonies from
Oki's father and mother, Hendarno Hendarmin and Sekartini, but
they failed to show up in court.

Ipunk, another girlfriend of Oki, testified at the trial two
weeks ago.

Judge Sukarata adjourned the trial until next Tuesday. (26)