New details in the death of naked lovers
New details in the death of naked lovers
JAKARTA (JP): Police revealed new information today regarding
the mysterious case of a man and a woman found dead in the back
seat of a sedan on Sunday morning.
Today, police announced that the male victim had gotten out of
the car to ask a housemaid for a cup of coffee -- three hours
before the bodies of his and his girlfriend were discovered.
"He got back in the car and went to sleep, after the housemaid
told him that the coffee had run out and she would buy more
later," City Police spokesman Lt. Col. A. Latief Rabar said here
yesterday.
Informed sources speculate that the couple died of
asphyxiation by breathing in the exhaust fumes of the car, in the
absence of adequate ventilation.
Supporting this theory are the results of preliminary police
investigation, which show that there were no bruises or wounds on
the bodies of A Liu, alias Rebo, 35, and his girlfriend,
Indrawati, alias Avi, 25.
The two were found dead by the housemaid and three of their
friends at around 11 a.m., Sunday, in the back seat of the 1987
Honda Accord sedan. The car was parked in the garage of a house
on Jl. Karya Barat II no. 24, Wijaya Kusuma subdistrict,
Jelambar, West Jakarta.
Latief said that the engine and the air conditioning were
still running when the four people tried to open the locked car.
The four witnesses were identified as Hendra Kurniawan, 26, A
Fun, 23, and housemaid Anis, 24, all of whom live in the house.
The fourth witness is Hendra's girlfriend Endah, 22.
One of the car's doors was later opened by Hendra who used a
spare car key which he took from Rebo's house, located nearby.
Police arrived on the scene after receiving a report from
Hendra, who found Rebo and his girlfriend lying on the back seat
of the car, according to Latief.
Naked
Rebo was found almost naked while Avi was still wearing her
underwear. She was found with her face buried in her boyfriend's
chest.
Rebo, an employee of a private firm, and Avi, an employee of a
shoe making firm, were both ethnic Chinese. They lived on Jl.
Latumenten not far from Hendra's house.
Their relatives said that the two had been involved in a
relationship for almost a year.
The sedan, owned by Rebo, was sent yesterday by the Tanjung
Duren police to the National Police Forensic Laboratory for
further investigation.
The four witnesses have undergone intensive questioning by the
police since the incident took place.
During the questioning, Hendra said that he was close friends
with the couple.
On Saturday evening, Hendra and his girlfriend Endah went on a
double date with the ill-fated couple. The group went to see a
midnight-show at the Columbia theater on Jl. Latumenten.
Hendra said that Rebo drove the car.
When they arrived home in the wee hours of the morning Sunday,
Hendra went to bed in his room with his girlfriend.
He told police that before going to his room, Rebo said that
Avi and he might spend the night in the car as there was no air
conditioning in the house, Latief said.
The four witnesses admitted that they heard the sound of the
engine all night, the spokesman said.
According to Anis, Rebo woke up at about 8 a.m. and asked her
for a cup of coffee. The housemaid saw Rebo return to the car
after she told him there was none.
By 11 a.m., thinking that the pair was still asleep, the four
witnesses tried to wake the couple up by knocking the body and
the doors of the car. After Hendra opened the car, to their
surprise and horror, they found Rebo and Avi dead.(bsr)