Police suspicious of Oki's confession
Police suspicious of Oki's confession
JAKARTA (JP): City police are looking for more material evidence and witnesses in Los Angeles to charge Hernoko Dewanto, alias Oki, for his alleged role in an L.A. triple murder, says Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto.
"As of today, we still have not charged Oki for the killing because we're still looking for more material evidence and witnesses to support his confession," the outgoing Jakarta police chief told a press conference yesterday.
Hindarto urged local media not to be too quick at naming Oki as the killer.
"I really hope that he will not be put on trial by the media," he said. "Give us time to complete our investigation because our evidence is scant."
"So far," Hindarto said, "we are only charging him with falsifying passport documents."
Oki, 30, has admitted under police questioning here that he killed all three suspects on separate occasions. But, according to Hindarto: "A confession is not enough to charge someone without evidence and witnesses to corroborate his confession."
Four of Hindarto's senior officers from the crime investigation directorate are scheduled to leave for Los Angeles today and two others tomorrow.
"They have been assigned to spend a week there to collect possible evidence and question witnesses," he said.
All material gathered must not only meet Indonesia's legal procedures but also be approved by authorized personnel at the Indonesian consulate in Los Angeles.
"We have to reprocess everything we get in America in order to present it legally in our court later," Hindarto said.
As stated by law, the suspect will be tried at the Central Jakarta District Court.
Testimony
During a series of police questioning sessions here, Oki admitted that he shot Suresh Michandani, his business partner of Indian origin and also beat Gina Sutan Aswar, a young Indonesian woman, to death with a monkey wrench. Oki has also confessed to killing the third victim, his own brother Eri Tri Harto Darmawan, with a hammer.
"We cannot, however, completely believe his confessions. Oki has given a different version at every questioning session done in order to solidify his position as the main suspect," said Hindarto, who is going to be replaced by his deputy next Friday.
Among witnesses in Los Angeles to be questioned by the Jakarta police are Oki's close friends, friends of the victims and the owner of the storage locker in which the three decayed bodies were found in August.
Here in Jakarta, the police have questioned at least three witnesses, including Anggi Hasti Benjamin Yatim, Oki's ex-wife, Ruyalti, his ex-girlfriend (also known as Ipunk), and the private driver Oki used during his stay in Los Angeles, Hindarto said.
"Anggi admitted that she lived with Oki but knew nothing about the murder of Gina in their apartment," said Capt. Wahyu, one of the officers questioning the suspect. He refused to talk about the comments of the others.
Oki has been wanted by the Los Angeles Police Department since the identification of the three bodies in December last year. He was later arrested by local police here in Central Jakarta on the allegation of passport forgery.
The initial police questioning of Oki was based on an arrest warrant from the LAPD along with several documents showing that Oki's fingerprints were found on the plastic used to cover the three bodies.
So far, none of Oki's relatives, nor his family's lawyers, have been allowed to meet with Oki since he has been in police custody.
"We want to get plain testimony from him," Hindarto said. "We'll allow them later if all evidence has been completed."
Rejection
In a recent development, Oki reportedly wrote a letter to his father rejecting his father's lawyers from Ruhut Sitompoel, Tommy Sihotang & Associates. Police showed the letter to reporters yesterday, in which Oki claims to have his own lawyers, though they were not named.
But Ruhut, one of the lawyers hired by Oki's father, doubted the police version.
"We really regret the police having shown Oki's private letter to everyone, especially since his own father hasn't even received it yet," Ruhut told The Jakarta Post.
"I don't know for sure if the police are trying to create another story, so let's just wait," he said. "Oki's father is going to speak with reporters for the first time tomorrow." (bsr)