Man killed, sign in blood found on floor

JAKARTA (JP): A 61-year-old man was found dead in his living room Saturday afternoon with a sign written in blood on the floor near his body reading: A from Nusakambangan.

Zainuddin's body was found at his residence at Jl. Batu Sari II/74, Kramat Jati in East Jakarta with a severe wound to his head and his hands and feet bound with thin rope.

Capt. Taufik, head of Makassar Police station which is handling the investigation of the death, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that Zainuddin, a retired construction foreman, has no criminal record.

Nusakambangan is an island in the southern part of East Java which has a jail for notorious prisoners.

According to Taufik, the sign was made by the killer in an attempt "only to distract the police".

Zainuddin's body was found by his son-in-law, Wahyono, 36, at about 1 p.m., he added.

"The severe injury to his head might be the result of a blow with blunt object," he said.

Police, he said, have collected some fingerprints from a cupboard and from the victim's body.

A television set, 10-gram gold earrings, shoes and clothes were found to be missing from the house, Taufik said.

He said that judging from the victim's wound and position, and the "missing" items, the killer probably knew the victim very well.

"The motive might be a deep grudge. Obviously, the murder was not worth committing considering the items taken by the killer," Taufik said. (edt)