Man died from strangulation not stab wounds: Doctor

Man died from strangulation not stab wounds: Doctor

JAKARTA (JP): A 30-year-old man found dead on Thursday night
in West Jakarta died from strangulation, Dr. Zulhasmar Syamsu of
the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital morgue said on Saturday.

"Don't look at those stab marks all over his body. There are
dotted marks on his lungs, signifying suffocation, and
strangulation marks on his neck. He died from strangulation,"
Zulhasmar, quoting the autopsy report, told The Jakarta Post at
the morgue.

The victim, who was found in a van abandoned on the Kebon
Jeruk toll road, was identified as Bachruddin, a driver for a
steel pipe supplier, PT Besi Pipa Industri Indonesia, in
Tangerang. He was heading to Jakarta from the factory.

"From the fingernail marks on the victim's neck, the killer is
most likely a male. The stab wounds on his body were made by a
small knife or a paper cutter perhaps," Zulhasmar said.

"The stabs were probably made to weaken the victim."

There were small, very neat stab marks under the victim's
armpits, on his left buttock, his back, chest, arms, hands, while
the victim's lower left lip was torn.

The victim, who hails from Makassar (formerly Ujungpandang),
South Sulawesi, was found on the Kebon Jeruk toll road in an
abandoned metallic green Isuzu Panther van with license plate
number B 1764 VS.

The man's wallet, containing Rp 1 million (US$142.80), and a
cellular phone were found intact in the van.

Paharudin, the 25-year-old brother of the victim, visited the
morgue in the evening to claim his brother's body for burial.

"My brother is usually very quiet. If he had any enemies or
problems at work, he wouldn't say. He wouldn't tell me," said
Paharudin, an Army officer who works at the Army's artillery
detachment in Tangerang.

"Bacharuddin called me on my cell phone at about 6:30 p.m. on
the day of the murder. He sounded fine then."

Paharudin said Bacharuddin, a bachelor, was the third of four
children.

"My brother arrived in Jakarta only two and a half years ago.
He stayed with me for five months until he got the job in
Tangerang."

West Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Adjie Rustam Ramdja said on
Saturday that the police were still in the dark about who the
suspected killers were.

"There is absolutely no indication of a robbery. It was a
sadistic kill. This man's arms and legs were tied, his mouth was
gagged," Adjie told the Post.

"We are still searching for clues. The three who found the
body, Badrianto, 30, Iwan, 30, and Oncin, 24, could not tell much
either."

Separately, police have not yet identified a girl found dead
from a drug overdose in room 310 of Hotel Permata on Jl. Mangga
Besar in West Jakarta. She was in her 20s.

According to a city police report, three of the hotel's
employees found the dead girl's body on Thursday at about 2 p.m.

Adjie said the police were still questioning the three
employees, Deddy, Yogi and Agus. (01/ylt)