Oki denies police findings in triple murder probe
Oki denies police findings in triple murder probe
JAKARTA (JP): Over the past few days, Harnoko Dewantono, alias
Oki, the suspect in the Los Angeles triple murder case, has
granted media reporters a series of interviews at an unidentified
place.
During the interviews, the 30-year-old man denied the findings
compiled by detectives from both the city police here and the Los
Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the United States.
He repeatedly denied any role in the killing of the first two
victims but admitted murdering his own brother, Tri (Eri) Harto
Darmawan.
Speaking fluent English in an interview with The Jakarta Post
yesterday, Oki -- once again -- revealed his version.
He claims to have been beaten in the head and mentally
tortured by police investigators during the questioning process
at City Police headquarters.
When contacted yesterday, City Police spokesman Lt. Col.
Bambang Haryoko replied: "So what kind of treatment should we
give a suspected murderer of three?"
"He can say anything he wants but let the judges decide,"
Bambang added.
Today, he is being detained at the Cipinang penitentiary in
East Jakarta.
According to Oki, the basic reason for the interviews was to
counter earlier reports about him and his case, which he said had
put him in a negative public light.
"My point is to let people know what's really going on and
what I really am," he said.
"I'm not as the police say. I'm not a cold-blooded murder. I
did it only to defend myself," he claimed.
"What Eri did was not my responsibility and Eri didn't even
tell me what to do, but my situation is I have to protect my
brother," he continued.
"I had no other choice. I didn't want to go to the cop and say
that my brother had just killed two people. But my stupidity was
I helped him wrap the bodies of the victims," he argued.
He hoped that his recent interviews could help tell the public
about the 'real' story of the murder. The media, he said, has
created such a story and brought in the names of his relatives
and girlfriends who have nothing to do with the killing.
Oki, whose last job was at a leasing company here, spent many
years in America. He said he studied at several colleges in
addition to his business activities.
The LAPD detectives listed him as a wanted suspect after
finding and identifying three decomposed bodies in a storage
locker in Los Angeles late last year.
He was apprehended here on Jan. 7 for alleged passport forgery
and was later questioned about and accused for his alleged role
in the triple murder of Suresh Mirchandani, an Indian, Gina Sutan
Aswar, an Indonesian woman, and Eri.
Accompanied by lawyers from Ruhut Sitompoel, Tommy Sihotang &
Associates, his passport forgery case is currently being tried at
the South Jakarta district court.
Police said that the motive of the killing was purely
business.
Both Jakarta and Los Angeles police detectives agree that Oki
is the main suspect in the triple murder.
A copy of the police findings seen by the Post said that
Suresh was tortured and shot to death in August 1991 and Gina was
battered to death on Nov. 2, 1992, while Eri was beaten viciously
several days after Gina's death.
The killing of Suresh allegedly took place a few days after
when Oki failed to reach an agreement on the purchase of Oki's
laundry business. Further police findings on how Gina and Eri
were killed were not available.
The decomposing bodies of the three victims were kept in U-
Haul storage locker No. 109 in Northridge, Los Angeles, since
May, 1993, before being found by the warehouse owner in August
last year.
Photos made by the Los Angeles police showed the bodies of
Gina and Eri completely clothed, while Suresh's body was clad
only in underwear and socks.
All the three bodies showed severe wounds, especially to the
heads.
One of Gina's ears was missing, while Suresh's lungs, heart
and part of his abdomen and skeleton were missing.
When asked for confirmation, Oki simply replied: "Do they have
the facts? There were no witnesses there."
According to him, the police are accusing him of being the
single suspect because his fingerprints and much were found.
"But what about Solihin's fingerprints? What about Eri's
fingerprints? What about Mardi's fingerprints? What about Anggi's
fingerprints?" he asked.
Solihin was the maid of Oki's ex-girlfriend Ipunk, while Mardi
was the driver of his ex-wife, Anggi.
The police did not say if the three have been questioned.
"The LAPD detectives even told me that they found hundreds of
fingerprints," Oki added. (bsr)