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)