Experts divided on arrest of suspected serial killer

JAKARTA (JP): Experts are divided on the recent arrest of a man charged with sodomizing and killing eight city street boys.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post yesterday, criminologist Adrianus Meliala from the University of Indonesia hailed the police work.

Meanwhile Jovita Martina, a former lecturer of criminology at the university, doubted the arrest, saying it might have been engineered.

"The police were under pressure from their superiors and the public, who both hoped for an immediate arrest of the serial killer," Jovita said.

That is why, she said, the police "intended to meet the needs" of the public and their superiors.

"So I doubt if the man who has been arrested is the real serial killer," Jovita said.

During a television interview the suspect appeared to be a cold person who could answer reporters' questions smoothly, even though he said he was illiterate.

"I know the truth is determined in court, but I just want to warn the police to make a strong case, with enough evidence," Jovita said.

This is because suspects in many earlier cases have told the court they were beaten while being interrogated, she said.

Adrianus said the Central Jakarta Police have made police history by charging someone for the first ever serial killing in Indonesia, in a relatively short period.

"They have done a good job with good techniques in crime investigation," he said.

Adrianus said there was little possibility that the police could have engineered an arrest for the sake of recognition by the public and their superiors.

"The police have worked very hard and carefully," he said.

For instance, he noted, detectives never distributed any of the victims' pictures to the press, in order to make the suspect feel free and unaware of the investigation.

"An engineered arrest would be easily revealed in court," Adrianus said.

Nevertheless the recent arrest of Siswanto, alias Robot, 33, seemed a remarkable milestone given chronic police problems such as a shortage of personnel, equipment and funds, and low salaries.

A student said he hoped the success will draw more attention to the police's needs.

Either the government or the private sector should be motivated to help provide the police with up-to-date equipment, to make it easier for them to solve more cases, Donny, a student of the Trisakti University, said.

Central Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira, who led the investigation, said the work started with the identification of the eight victims, whose decomposed bodies were found at two locations in Central and East Jakarta.

"It's a long story involving lots of experts, including forensic scientists," Abubakar said.

Detectives from East Jakarta ran their own investigation, in competition with their colleagues from Central Jakarta, to try and find the suspected serial killer.

This meant little progress was made until the eighth victim was found, despite information from forensic scientists who had informed detectives at the Jakarta police headquarters that the victims, aged between nine and 15, must have been murdered by a serial killer.

The East Jakarta police questioned hundreds of street boys and arrested some senior street people who were believed to have sodomized their juniors.

Meanwhile the Central Jakarta police sent nine of its detectives to several villages and cities in West and Central Java two days later to trace the suspect.

Three weeks later, the team arrested Siswanto, a homeless Jakarta scavenger, at a railway station in Tegal, Central Java.

Siswanto said he also killed two other street boys in Central Java.

He also said he was sodomized several times himself. The suspect faces the death penalty if convicted. (bsr)