Not yet certain Oki killed all three: Police
Not yet certain Oki killed all three: Police
JAKARTA (JP): City police still cannot definitely name Harnoko
Dewantono, alias Oki, as the killer of all three victims -- two
Indonesians and a man of Indian origin -- in Los Angeles.
"We're still matching our findings with the suspect's
confession and available evidence, meaning that our investigation
has yet to be finalized," the head of the Crime Investigation
Department of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Col. Nurfaizi,
told a press meeting yesterday.
Nurfaizi refused to disclose Oki's alleged role in the three
Los Angeles murders based on the Jakarta police tentative
findings during their recent two-week investigation there.
He also declined to clarify -- based on their latest findings
-- when and how the victims were killed.
"We're still digging up facts for further conclusion," said
Nurfaizi, who at the meeting was accompanied by City Police
spokesman Lt. Col. Bambang Haryoko and two detectives who had
just returned from Los Angeles.
A day earlier, visiting detective Ted Ball from the Los
Angeles Police Department (LAPD) revealed the American version of
Oki having killed all three victims as was surmised during their
investigation.
The suspect, however, has so far given different versions to
local interrogating officers about the killing of Suresh
Michandani, his Indian business partner, Gina Sutan Aswar, a
Indonesian woman, and (Eri) Tri Harto Darmawan, Oki's younger
brother.
Oki once confessed to killing only Eri after his brother
murdered the other two victims. On another occasion, Oki admitted
killing them all.
Hope
"Interrogating Oki would enable us to compare things we found
in Los Angeles to what he confesses. But we haven't questioned
him since our return here," Lt. Col. Gories Mere, who led the
Jakarta detective team to the United States, told The Jakarta
Post.
"But, we hope that Oki will admit he killed all three
victims," Capt. Wahyu, one of the team members, added.
Both officers, however, refused to give further explanation.
In America, the Jakarta police compiled written and legal
testimonies of at least 21 people, covering four LAPD detectives,
11 medical experts and six witnesses.
In Jakarta, they collected testimonies from Oki's ex-
girlfriend Ipunk, his driver Mardi and two other witnesses.
The three victims are believed to have been killed separately
on different occasions in Los Angeles between 1991 and 1993.
Their decomposed bodies were found together in a storage locker
in August last year.
Oki, listed as a wanted criminal by the LAPD since December
when the bodies were identified, was apprehended by the Jakarta
police on Jan. 7 on allegations of passport forgery and was later
questioned about his alleged role in the three Los Angeles
murders.
The venue of trial of Oki's case might be decided in a
ministerial coordinating meeting tomorrow, following a request by
the United States government for the extradition of Oki.
According to Attorney General Singgih, Oki will be tried in
Indonesia if the prosecutors find that the dossiers can meet
prerequisites set by the local law.
If there is inadequate material evidence, there will be two
possibilities: extradite Oki to the United States or "close the
case," Singgih told reporters.
"But the venue of trial will completely be the prosecutors'
decision. They will appoint the court which will try the case,"
he explained.
According to Jakarta police officers, Indonesia law allows the
case to be tried here using such evidence as photos, forensic
expert reports and other legal documents. (bsr)