Man, wife and son slain in S. Jakarta

Man, wife and son slain in S. Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): A man, his wife and one of their children were
murdered at their home in the southern outskirts of Jagakarsa
early yesterday, police said.

South Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Yudi Susharianto
identified the victims as Sukarman, 39, Siti Chotijah, 35 and
their two-year-old son Azis Nugroho.

The couple's other two sons, Aditya Riyanto, 12, and Aji
Yudanto, 10, survived the massacre, which took place about 3 a.m.

Yudi said police were still searching for the murderers and
declined to speculate on the motive behind the killing.

He said the victims' bodies were found by the two surviving
sons about 6 a.m.

"We categorize this as a brutal murder," he said. "None of the
victims' belongings were missing, indicating that it was not a
robbery."

Siti's brother, Prawoto, said the two boys survived the
killing because they were asleep in a separate room which had
been locked from the outside. The parents had the key to the
door.

"At dawn, they heard their parents scream. They also heard
their mother cry Allahu Akbar (Allah is great) but they could not
open the door," Prawoto told reporters yesterday.

The intruders also tried to enter the boys' bedroom, he said.

About 6 a.m., Aditya was able to break out of the bedroom only
to find his parents lying in a pool of blood in the living room
and their brother in his bedroom.

Prawoto said Azis may have been murdered after he woke up and
started crying after hearing his parents' screams.

The murderers apparently entered the house through the garage
roof, where police found a large hole. All doors were properly
locked.

Police also found cigarette butts in the garage and the roof.

"No one in the family smoked," Prawoto said.

The two surviving children and a neighbor, Widodo, will be
questioned at the local police station.

Widodo claimed he heard screams about 3.00 a.m. but ignored
them because he knew Siti liked screaming upon finding little
surprises.

"A few minutes later I heard some noises. Then I checked it
out, but I found nothing out there."

Neighbors speculated that someone might have contracted
professional killers to commit the murderers after finding out
that Sukarman, an employee of South Jakarta Tourism Office, had
just received an inheritance from his parents.

"The victim had just bought a new Toyota Kijang van. He used
to have a less expensive minibus. Maybe the killers knew all
about this," a neighbor, who asked for anonymity, said.

Neighbors said they believed the killers may have known the
victims because they accomplished their mission without messing
things up.

"When we came in (after the murder), the place was neat," a
neighbor said.

The three bodies were sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Abdul Mun'im Idries, forensic expert at the hospital, said
that Sukarman and Siti died from neck wounds while the toddler
died from slash wounds to his head.

"The parents apparently resisted the attack," he said, adding
that they had been killed with a sickle or sword. (edt/ivy)