Police finally name Oki as main suspect in murder

Police finally name Oki as main suspect in murder

JAKARTA (JP): Police finally named Harnoko Dewantono, alias
Oki, 30, yesterday as the main suspect in the murder of two
Indonesians and an Indian national in Los Angeles.

"Based on a report made by my team currently investigating the
case in Los Angeles, I can say that there is adequate material
evidence to make him a suspect in the murder," outgoing City
Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto told reporters
yesterday.

"But there are still possibilities for another case," he said
without giving further detail.

According to Hindarto, Oki is believed to be the only suspect
in the killing of Gina Sutan Aswar, a woman, Oki's brother Tri
Harto Dewantono, known as Eri, and Suresh Michandani of Indian
origin.

Gina and Michandani were Oki's business partners.

The decomposed bodies of the three victims were found in
August last year in a storage locker in Los Angeles and were
identified four months later.

The precise date of the murders has not been released but are
estimated to have taken place at different places between 1991
and 1993.

Hindarto, who is going to be replaced on Friday, said all
evidence found by the Los Angeles police are comparable with the
dossiers they compiled.

For instance, a bullet found in Michandani's head is identical
to the gun used by Oki, which was registered under Eri's name, he
said.

When asked about a report that the Los Angeles police refused
to hand over all the evidence to the Jakarta police, Hindarto
simply said: "The negotiation is still going on."

Today, the Indonesian police team will question at least three
witnesses -- Michandani's wife and two of Oki's friends,
identified as Rebecca and Wanda, said Hindarto.

Rebecca, he said, is the one who was once asked by Oki to keep
the gun he used to commit the crime, while Wanda, one of the key
witnesses, is believed to have made a series of telephone calls
prior to the arrival of Gina from Paris on Nov. 1.

More witnesses

The team, consisting of six senior Jakarta police detectives,
reports any progress they make to Hindarto every day.

"They might question more witnesses later," he said.

Hindarto refused to further elaborate on the team's tentative
findings about the way the suspect killed the victims and the
tools he used.

"The team's findings are not the same as what Oki has told us.
Thus, we have to counter them later," he argued.

Based on the team's findings, the victims were killed at three
different places and then kept at three different locations
before being placed together in the storage locker, he said.

Hindarto once said that Oki had admitted to killing the three
victims but on another occasion the city police said Oki
confessed to killing only Eri who, he claimed, had earlier
murdered Gina and Michandani.

"During a series of questioning, we found that Oki made
various versions," Hindarto said over the weekend. "That's why we
need strong evidence to counter his versions."

Just after the identification of the three bodies last month,
Los Angeles police issued a warrant for the arrest of Oki as the
main suspect of the murder.

Oki was taken into custody on Jan. 7 in Central Jakarta on the
allegation of passport forgery. Last week questioning began for
his alleged role in the triple murder after allegations were made
by the Los Angeles police.

As of yesterday, Indonesia and the United States, which have
no extradition treaty, had not reached an agreement on the trial
setting for the case.

But Hindarto yesterday insisted: "There's no consensus (with
Washington) in this case, we want the suspect to be tried in
Jakarta because he's an Indonesian citizen."

Lawyers

Based on Indonesia's existing law, a suspected criminal with
Indonesian citizenship who committed a crime overseas can be
tried at the Central Jakarta district court.

Yesterday police allowed Hendarno Hendarmin, Oki's father, to
meet the suspect after two weeks in custody. No reports were
available yet about their meeting.

Oki is now facing another problem: representation.

Reports said that he had rejected lawyers from Ruhut
Sitompoel, Tommy Sihotang & Associates who were appointed by his
father, Hendarno Hendarmin.

Oki is believed to have named lawyers from Amir Syamsuddin &
Partners to defend him in court.

"I have a written request by Oki dated today for us to
represent him," Amir, who admitted had met Oki while he was in
police custody, told The Jakarta Post.

The letter, made available to the Post, was signed by Oki.
(bsr)