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)