Murder suspects arrested in less than 24 hours

JAKARTA (JP): Three suspects in the murder of a couple in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta were arrested on Tuesday after police received a tip from one of the suspects' friends.

One suspect, 22-year-old Fichri Richard Datulong, said in the presence of police officers that he and his friends were offered Rp 30 million from a relative of the victim to kill Konstantin Akbar and his wife Umi Kalsum.

"We made a plan last Friday at a bookstore in Central Jakarta," Fichri said.

Konstantin, 52, and Umi, 44, were found dead in the living room of their house on Monday morning. The servants found their bodies and a forensic examination stated strangulation was the cause of death.

Fichri, who was the victims' faith healer, was arrested at a hotel in Bekasi. Police earlier apprehended the other two suspects, Harsyad Bello, 29, and James Maramis, 19, who informed them of Fichri's whereabouts.

East Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Hidayat H. Fambanyo said the successful arrest was due to the cooperation of law enforcement officials from the four police forces of Jakarta and Bekasi.

"This is a good performance by a team consisting of our police detectives and officers," he said. Hidayat, however, acknowledged that they could not find a motive for the murder.

"We can't say yet what the motive is because the suspect knows the victims well. The murder could have been motivated by a family dispute."

During a reenactment of the murder on Tuesday, Fichri said he did not feel like killing the couple, because he was only trying to drive away the evil spirits that possessed them.

"I wrapped his (Konstantin's) face and body with a sarong, while Harsyad and James held Umi down, because she also showed similar signs of being possessed," he told police during the reenactment.

The police said the three men then hit the back of the victims' heads with a gypsum-filled ornament and a three-kilogram dumbbell found in the house. Knowing that the victims were still alive, they then allegedly strangled the couple with plastic string, which they brought with them.

Fichri had known the couple for about one year but became their faith healer over the past two months after he told them that someone had cast a spell on Umi, making her feel weak and unable to sleep.

The three suspects allegedly took Konstantin's car and his other car's documents and keys.

Police found the victims' stolen car at the hotel in Bekasi. Police also seized the stolen Rp 100,000 in cash and three gold bracelets taken from the victims' daughters' bedrooms.

East Jakarta Police chief of detectives Maj. Alex Mandalika, said he interrogated the relative who Fichri said was implicated in the crime. Alex said the relative denied the allegation and that police were still investigating the case.(01)