Taxi driver murdered

Taxi driver murdered

JAKARTA (JP): A 22-year-old man was arrested by South Jakarta
police on Sunday morning for allegedly killing a taxi driver in
an effort to get money to help his ailing mother.

Police said Amanu, an employee of a cleaning service company
at the Ministry of Cooperative Affairs on Jl. Rasuna Said, has
admitted to killing Marsasak Sipahuras, 38, a driver of the
Jakarta International Taxi company.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said yesterday
that the suspect, who lives in the ministry compound, told
interrogators that he had been very upset after being informed on
Saturday evening that his mother was sick in his hometown
Lamongan, East Java.

He was very frustrated because he had no money, either to
return home or to buy medicine for his mother, Iman said. Amanu
finally decided to commit a robbery, he said.

The suspect first took a knife from the office kitchen and
wrapped it with a cloth, Iman said.

He then took a bus to Pasar Rumput, Central Jakarta, in search
of potential victims.

Finally, he hailed a taxi and asked the driver to take him to
the ministry office. On the way there, Amanu pulled out his knife
and demanded money from Sipahuras.

However, the driver punched him in the eye, whereupon Amanu
stabbed the driver in the neck.

Panicking, the suspect stole the taxi's meter and the radio
equipment, rather than the driver's money. He left the taxi with
the dead driver inside. A passing policeman became suspicious
upon noticing Amanu rushing from the taxi.

Questioned, Amanu told the officer, Corp. Adi Suntoro, that he
had just helped a dying man.

The officer arrested Amanu, who eventually confessed to the
murder, Iman said. (bsr)