Gina and Oki -- two names that steal the headlines
Gina and Oki -- two names that steal the headlines
JAKARTA (JP): Gina and Oki are names that are the talk of the town today. The former belongs to a woman, known as bright and vibrant, who was found, murdered, in Los Angeles. The latter belongs to a successful young businessman, apparently a playboy, who is under police arrest in Jakarta and is wanted by the LA Police Department.
The nature of the murder has all the ingredients of a suspense novel and, as the story unravels in the coming days and weeks, it may end up resembling a best-seller.
It made the cover of the latest edition of the Gatra newsweekly, out today. The magazine probes the background of Gina and Oki. Here is the gist of its findings.
Gina and Oki, both 30, had been school friends back in their days at the SMA 70 high school in South Jakarta.
Former classmates recall that Gina was a bright student, well- liked by her peers. Oki, on the other hand, had been a deceitful playboy.
Gina Sutan Aswar was the youngest of five children of Sutan Aswar, a retired Air Force officer and a former member of the House of Representatives.
As a teenager, Gina had been known to be very energetic, and an avid lover of swimming, the Indonesian martial art Pencak Silat, the guitar and also the piano.
After finishing high school, she moved to San Francisco, though it is not yet clear how or why she did so. There she took a computer course and graduated with high marks from Notre Dame University, San Francisco, in 1987. She returned to Jakarta to work for Arco, an American oil company, in 1988, and then moved on to become assistant to the manager of the Warung Buncit branch of Bank International Indonesia.
In May 1992 she left again, this time for Los Angeles. It was there that she met up with Oki, her former high school friend.
Oki, whose full name was revealed to be Harnoko Dewantono, is a son of Hendarno Hendarmin, a retired officer of Bank Indonesia, and Sekartini Handijaya, a senior employee of state-owned Bank Bumi Daya. He was the eldest of Hendarno and Sekartini's three children. His parents were already divorced by the time our story reaches Los Angeles.
Tied
Oki, the main suspect in the police investigation of the murder of Gina and two other people in Los Angeles, did not have a happy childhood. Provided we accept his recollection of it, as recounted to his friends, that is. His mother, according to Oki's account, once tied him to a tree and left him there, without food, for an entire day.
Friends also recalled that Oki had been deeply interested in black magic, carrying around a bag full of accessories that he believed to possess magical powers.
With the backing of a wealthy family, he went to the United States to study after he had graduated from high school. In time he settled in Los Angeles.
Police in Jakarta say he has a record going back to 1992 -- for forging a passport.
When he met Gina in 1992, he offered her a place in the real estate company American Coast Financial, in which he owned shares. Gina took up the offer, raising US$200,000 from friends and relatives in Jakarta to buy into the business.
Gina spent that summer in Paris, where her older sister was living. In August, 1992, she returned to Los Angeles. Oki had promised to pick her up at the airport.
That was the last Gina's relatives heard of her, until her body was discovered. For his part, Oki has said he did not see Gina at the airport.
Oki has since returned to Indonesia. He had been working for a leasing company in Jakarta until, not long ago, he was fired after it was alleged he had murdered Gina. (bsr)