Ex-driver confesses to Bogor grannies' slaying

Ex-driver confesses to Bogor grannies' slaying

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested the man who killed two
elderly women last week in their house at Cinere, Bogor, 25
kilometers south of here, the chief of Bogor police precinct said
yesterday.

Lt. Col. Yudi Susharyanto said the man, identified as Hendro
Matraputra, 30, was nailed Monday night at Bogor's Baranangsiang
terminal.

Hendro planned to escape to Palembang, South Sumatra.

Hendro worked for a year for Selvy, the daughter of one of the
victims, before he was fired in 1995, Yudi said.

"He must have had a grudge against the family over the
discharge to make him come back to the house on Feb. 28 to kill
the women," he said.

The victims, Agustina, 71, and her sister Mariana, 62, were
found dead in their house on Jl. Timor 121, Cinere Megapolitan
Estate, Bogor, by the police at 4:30 p.m. last Friday.

Hendro confessed to the police that he went to the house to
kill the two old ladies and to steal cash and jewelry, Yudi said.

Hendro made off with Rp 340,000 cash and what he thought was a
pair of one-gram gold earrings, a three-gram ring, a five-gram
necklace and a 10-gram bracelet. The jewelry turned out to be
artificial.

Police said Hendro told them Agustina welcomed him that
afternoon and they chatted for a while in the living room before
he attacked her and stabbed her to death.

The suspect then hit Mariana on the head with a crowbar.
Mariana screamed for help but he stabbed her in the chest with
the crowbar.

"Realizing Mariana was not dead, Hendro panicked and stabbed
her in the stomach with the crowbar," Yudi said.

Hendro's confessed killing of Agustina with a knife and
Mariana with a crowbar contradicts the police's previous
findings.

The police had said the suspect had slit Mariana's throat and
beaten Agustina severely with a crowbar. The police's statement
was supported by the victims' neighbor who entered the house with
the police on the afternoon of Feb. 28th.

The neighbor, Toni, lived behind the victim's house and called
the police when he heard a woman's scream for help.

Toni said he saw Mariana's body lying in the bedroom with a
five centimeter cut to her throat.

Agustina's body was found in the bathtub at the back of the
house. Her body was covered in gashes and bruises and a crowbar
was found near her body. (04)