Police questioned eight more in murder probe

JAKARTA (JP): Police questioned eight more people yesterday in connection with Monday's brutal murder of a teacher's wife and children in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta.

However, the motive for the killing is not yet known.

"Be patient, please. The final investigation has yet to be completed," City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo told reporters yesterday after attending the closing ceremony of a course on security affairs.

Asked whether Rohadi, the teacher, was implicated in the crime, he replied: "Not for the time being."

Meanwhile, a police source identified the eight people questioned yesterday as Filipus Kia, his wife Parmi, his sons Agus, Fery, Bernadus and Albert, and his cousins Alex and Lambert.

"Filipus, one of his sons, and two cousins were questioned regarding a dispute over land with Rohadi. During earlier investigations the police dogs ran to Filipus' house," said the source, who asked not to be identified.

Filipus Kia, who works as a security guard, was picked up at his office in Pademangan, North Jakarta, at about 1:30 a.m. yesterday morning.

From there police went to his house, which is located about 100 meters from Rohadi's, to pick up other family members -- his four sons, his wife Parmi, and two cousins who live next door.

Rohadi and a teacher colleague jointly bought 200 square meters of land in the area some time ago. Rohadi built his house on his 100 square meters of land while the remaining 100 square meters, belonging to Rohadi's colleague, was planted with cassava by Rohadi's wife. Filipus's land is located next to the cassava grove.

"It is still not certain who started it, but there was an argument between Filipus and Rohadi's wife, Eli, about the cassava garden," the source said.

According to a police source, Filipus has conceded that he was upset with Rohadi's wife because she planted the cassava on his land as well.

As of yesterday, Filipus and his family were under city police surveillance.

After five days of investigating, police detectives have questioned more than 20 people, including Eli's husband, 33-year- old Rohadi, but police have not yet arrested or named any suspects.

Love affair

Police say they suspect that either a love affair or a land dispute was behind the murders.

Eli, a 31-year-old housewife, and three of her five young children -- aged two, four and eight -- were found dead with severe stab wounds on Monday afternoon. Eli's eight-month-old baby was found hanging but survived. The victims' bodies were discovered by Eli's eldest daughter at their small house in the Bambu Apus subdistrict of Ciracas, East Jakarta.

Aminah, Filipus's next-door neighbor, told The Jakarta Post that she saw police coming to Filipus's house and taking Filipus's family members away with them.

"The police used three cars to take them," she said.

Aminah, whose husband Namin is the head of the local community organization, said that she had never heard anything about a land conflict between Rohadi's and Filipus' families.

She said Filipus, who had been living in the neighborhood for 13 years, was a quiet person.

"But he is active in the soccer club here," she said. She said members of Filipus' family had participated in the community services held by the neighborhood to mourn Monday's deaths.

"Filipus's wife Parmi helped us with the cooking during the tahlilan (an Islamic community gathering to pray for the dead)," she said. (01/bsr)