Trial on triple slaying in Los Angeles begins
Trial on triple slaying in Los Angeles begins
JAKARTA (JP): The indictment against the sole defendant in the
Los Angeles triple slaying was finally read at the Central
Jakarta District Court yesterday after a two-week adjournment.
Public Prosecutor J. Kamaru, who led the team of prosecutors,
began reading the 17-page indictment after defendant Harnoko
Dewantono, better known as Oki, told presiding Judge I.G.K.
Sukarata that he now had a team of lawyers to defend him.
According to the indictment, Oki, 32, murdered his Indian
national business partner Suresh Gobind Mirchandani on Aug. 19,
1991; his woman friend Gina Sutan Aswar, an Indonesian, on Nov.
2, 1992; and his younger brother, Ery Tri Harto Dharmawan.
"Ery was murdered between the end of 1991 and 1992, because he
knew much about Suresh and Gina's death," prosecutor Kamaru said.
The prosecutor cited the three places where each alleged
murder occurred: Suresh was shot on Freeway 5 North East 110 in
LA; Gina was beaten at the suspect's residence on Kenfield Avenue
in Brentwood; and Ery was battered at a Weekly Rental Hotel on
Arizona Street, also in LA.
According to the prosecutor, Oki mutilated two of the bodies
before they were wrapped in plastic bags and stuffed into wooden
boxes. Both of Suresh's wrists were slit and Gina's right ear was
sliced.
"All three corpses were first stored at Oaks Self Storage on
Van Nuys Boulevard and later moved to U-Haul locker number 109 in
North Ridge. The corpses were found on Aug. 10, 1994," the
prosecutor said.
The defendant lowered his gaze as the prosecutor read the
charges, while photographers and TV cameramen took pictures from
several different angles.
It marked the first time in Indonesia that a trial was
broadcast live by a TV station. Privately owned ANteve broadcast
the entire session, interviewing lawyers, Gina's relatives and
court visitors.
Gina's siblings, three sisters and a brother, were present at
the court.
Atitje Sutan Azwar, Gina's eldest sister, was seen to burst
into tears when Kamaru told the court of Gina's postmortem
report.
He added that Oki had used Ery's name to sidetrack
investigations.
"Ery's name was used to buy a gun in 1991 and to rent a mail
box used as his business address," Kamaru said.
Oki had allegedly persuaded victim Gina to join his company,
the American Coast Financial Co., which invested in real-estate.
If found guilty, Oki would face at least 20 years imprisonment
for premeditated murder, the prosecutor said.
The defendant's team of lawyers comprise Didi Syamsuddin,
Subiakto Saruddin, Subani, Mikha Lumiling and Haris Cahyono. They
are being led by Tommy Sihotang, Nurhasyim Ilyas and Henry
Yosodiningrat.
The first hearing on June 13 lasted less than 10 minutes after
Oki told the court that he had appointed lawyer Amir Syamsuddin
after dismissing his lawyer at the time, Tommy Sihotang.
Oki, who ran a small business in LA, is now serving a two-year
prison sentence for passport forgery.
The court hearing was adjourned until next Thursday to hear
the defense lawyer's reply after being allowed to study the
dossiers. (14)
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