Man arrested in murder of Japanese wife for money

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Money is apparently more important than human life for Edy Alhorison, 35, who has confessed to police that he murdered his Japanese wife for money totaling over Rp 800 million (US$83,700).

Jakarta police revealed on Wednesday that they had arrested Edy in his home in Payakumbuh, West Sumatra last Saturday, after several days of investigation.

The investigation was made following an earlier report from the Japanese Embassy that one of its citizens, identified only as Tamoto, had been missing since April.

"Edy admitted to police that he killed his wife because he wanted to get at Tamoto's Rp 800 million that she had in her bank account. He also said that he buried his wife's body in a forest," Jakarta police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said.

He said that police had unearthed Tamoto's grave, and taken her body for laboratory examination.

Edy married Tamoto in Payakumbuh in 2003. After a year of marriage, Tamoto went back to Japan. Both continued to stay in contact by email.

During this period, Edy married another woman, identified as Julia Asmarani, but he kept his second marriage a secret from Tamoto.

On April 28, Tamoto flew to Payakumbuh.

"To pretend that he was still faithful to Tamoto, Edy rented another house. Edy met Tamoto in this house," Tjiptono said.

Knowing that Tamoto had a lot of money deposited in a bank account, Edy strangled his wife in their bed.

With the help of Julia and his cousin John, Edy buried Tamoto in the middle of a forest.

"That's why we also arrested Julia and John, as both of them assisted Edy in committing the murder," Tjiptono said.

Tamoto's family in Japan sought assistance from the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta after Tamoto didn't contact them for two months.

"They expected Tamoto to come home after a month in Indonesia. They were very worried about her, and asked the embassy to seek information about her whereabouts. The embassy then came to us," Tjiptono said.

After learning that Tamoto had a husband in Payakumbuh, the police sent a team of investigators there.

At first, Edy told the police that Tamoto had returned to Japan through Pekanbaru airport on June 2.

"We checked Edy's information but found no record of Tamoto's departure at the airport. After intensive interrogation, Edy told us everything," Tjiptono said.

He said that Edy managed to withdraw Rp 267 million from Tamoto's account before being apprehended by the police.