Security guard testifies in court

JAKARTA (JP): A security guard told a court hearing yesterday that he heard two screams in the early morning prior to the alleged murder of a woman in a hotel room.

Elvis Riza Mas, who works at Sahid Jaya Hotel, told the Central Jakarta district court that he heard the first scream at around 5:30 a.m. when he was making his rounds on the 14th floor on Oct. 16 last year.

"Ten minutes later I heard another scream, but this one sounded weaker than the first one," the witness added.

Elvis further said that he was not suspicious, nor felt compelled to knock on the door when he heard the scream because past experiences had taught him not to knock on hotel doors unless they were cries for help.

"It's very common to hear screams from hotel rooms because people get intimate with each other," Elvis told the court. "I used to get into trouble when I knocked at such screams."

The murder allegedly occurred after a heated argument between the victim, Wati, and the suspect known as GS, a Malaysian national.

After his shift, Elvis was contacted and told to return to the hotel because the body of a dead woman had been found near the emergency stairs on the 12th floor.

Both witnesses, Elvis and a waiter at the hotel's restaurant, told the court that they did not know the victim prior to the murder.

The hearing was adjourned until next Tuesday. (14)