Questions abound in Los Angeles murder case

Questions abound in Los Angeles murder case

JAKARTA (JP): If Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, is the culprit
on the Los Angeles triple murder, why didn't he move the three
decomposed bodies from the storage locker?

"Perhaps he had a plan but had no chance of carrying it out
due to the problems he faced when he returned here," a reliable
source told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Those problems include the confiscation of his original
passport by immigration officers, being blacklisted by the
American embassy in Jakarta for alleged passport forgery, and his
marriage, said the source, who asked not to be named.

According to the source, Oki's original passport was seized by
immigration officers in 1992 at the Soekarno-Hatta airport
immediately after the officers saw that his passport had no exit
stamp on it.

"The officers took his passport because Oki could not answer
their questions on how he could go abroad without his passport
being stamped," said the source.

"We later found out that Oki had used the passport of his
wife's driver (when he had left for the United States in 1991)
with his wife, Anggi Hasti Benjamin Yatim, known as Anggi, whom
he had just married." he said. "It is still a big question,
though, how he could get into the United States without a valid
passport."

Following his return to Jakarta in 1992, Oki again applied for
a visa to the United States, but his application was turned down
by the United States embassy, which was aware of allegations of
passport forgery.

"Oki was also facing a serious problem with Anggi because her
family had not allowed her to live with him due to his brutal
behavior," the source said.

Oki's brutality

Anggi married Oki in Jakarta in 1991 and divorced him in late
1992. They have one child.

"Anggi's family was very disappointed with Oki, especially
when her mother found many bruises on Anggi's body," the source
said.

Anggi was once treated at a Jakarta hospital for the mentally
ill after receiving inhumane treatment from Oki, he said.

According to the source, Anggi had been severely beaten by Oki
during their stay in Jakarta and Los Angeles for unknown reasons.

"He sometimes forced Anggi to ask for money from her family in
Jakarta as well," the source said.

During a visit to Los Angeles in 1992, her mother accidentally
saw bruises on Anggi's body and asked her daughter to immediately
leave Los Angeles and get away from her husband.

"But Oki insisted on joining the family and went back to
Jakarta at that time too," the source said.

The source said both Anggi as well as Oki's ex-girlfriend,
Ipunk, had received poor treatment from Oki.

"Anggi, for example, had been beaten with a golf stick," the
source said. "Ipunk received more dreadful treatment from him but
refused to disclose it to the press, only to the police."

The source also said that the two visiting detectives from the
Los Angeles Police Department, accompanied by Jakarta detectives,
met Anggi for questioning on Tuesday evening.

"Actually the Los Angeles police officers have already
questioned Oki, Ipunk and Anggi in Los Angeles," he said.

Motive

The bodies of Suresh Mirchandani, a man of Indian descent,
Gina Sutan Aswar, an Indonesian woman and Tri Harto Darmawan
(Eri), Oki's brother, were discovered in August last year.

It is strongly believed that the three victims were killed on
separate occasions between 1991 and 1992. Earlier, many people
thought that Eri was murdered sometime in 1993, while Gina in
late 1992 and Suresh in 1991.

"The dead bodies had been moved many times but Anggi, who
lived with Oki during that period of time, claims to know nothing
about the triple murder," the source explained.

Oki was apprehended in Central Jakarta on Jan. 7 on
allegations of passport forgery and was later questioned for his
alleged role in the murder.

"The motive for killing Suresh and Gina was purely money
reasons," the source said.

According to the source, Suresh was killed when he asked for
his money back from Oki, whom he believed had cheated him in the
purchase of a laundry business, which had been funded by Ipunk.

"Ipunk asked Oki to invest all her money in the business, but
instead of buying the store in cash Oki bought it on an
installment plan and hired Suresh as its manager," he said.

As the business ran well, Suresh purchased the store in cash
from Oki. After he found out that Oki had not yet paid for the
store in full, he asked Oki to return his money.

"Gina was murdered after she told Oki that she needed all the
money back that had she lent to him," the source said, adding
that he had no idea concerning the murder of Eri.

"If it was Oki, then only Oki knows what happened," he said.
(bsr)