Mutilated woman murdered by a 'professional'
JAKARTA (JP): The grisly murder of a woman whose mutilated body was found in Tangerang on Sunday was probably the work of a psychopath with a professional's knowledge of how to dismember a body, a forensic expert said yesterday.
Zulhasmar Syamsu of the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital told The Jakarta Post last night that a large knife usually used in slaughterhouses appeared to have been used to cut the body into 12 parts.
"It seems the killer had sawn the body.
"Judging from the incisions, he or she must be a professional," Zulhasmar said after examining the body parts.
Cuts had been made at the woman's neck and her joints. Her digestive organs were removed.
"The killer must be very sadistic. He or she may have exacted revenge on the victim. It's also possible that the killer is a psychopath."
Stretch marks on her stomach indicated she had been pregnant during her lifetime.
He said bruises were also found on her right palm and the ring finger of a hand.
"Her teeth show the victim was between 25 and 30 years old."
Three teenagers reported the body parts -- packed in three cardboard boxes -- near a railway track at Cisauk village of Sampura district in Serpong, Tangerang.
Police also found a saw, a pair of jeans and T-shirt in the boxes.
According to Zulhasmar, the boxes contained the woman's head, arms, thighs, feet, four pieces of flesh from her stomach and breasts and bits of her small intestines, large intestines and stomach.
The largest segment of flesh from her stomach and breasts was 26 centimeters by 16 centimeters, and the smallest was 15 centimeters by 10 centimeters, he said.
"Her legs were well maintained, her face is intact and her nose is flat," he said. He invited people with missing female relatives to come forward regarding the case.
Zulhasmar added that forensic experts had not determined if she was dead before her body was dismembered.
Tangerang police believe the victim was killed three days before her body was found.
The teenagers said an unidentified man offered to pay them in exchange for disposing of the boxes.
One of the teenagers, Dede Hermanto, 15, told the media the man had "slanty" eyes and curly hair, and wore brown pants and a red T-shirt.
The police have questioned five witnesses, including the teenagers.
Head of Tangerang Police Lt. Col. Aryanto Boedihardjo said his personnel were searching for the rest of the woman's body, including most of her torso.
Highly publicized murder cases in the capital involving mutilation include those of Nurdin Koto at the Bogasari Apartment in North Jakarta in 1979 and a young woman named Christine in Ancol, North Jakarta, in 1989.
"These types of cases are usually hard to solve because the bodies have been severely mutilated in a bid to erase the victim's identity..." City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said. (edt/ivy/41)