The Murder for Vengeance

The killing of Sugiarto, 52, the owner of a shipping company in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, allegedly occurred against the background of a grudge borne by NL, 34, one of his female employees.

KOMPAS/JOHANES GALUH BIMANTARA

Police show evidence of firearms for the premeditated murder of Sugiarto, owner of the shipping company PT Dwi Putra Tirtajaya in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, on Monday (24/8/2020), in Jakarta.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Jakarta Metropolitan Police have arrested 12 suspects in connection with the killing of Sugiarto, 52, the owner of marine transportation company PT Dwi Putra Tirtajaya in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. The motive behind the homicide was apparently the resentment harbored by NL, 34, one of the suspects and a female employee of the victim, whom she accused of verbal abuse and harassment.

Jakarta Metropolitan Police chief Insp. Gen. Nana Sudjana said on Monday (24/8/2020) that the 12 suspects were detained on Friday (21/8) in several locations including Cileungsi, Bogor regency, Lampung and Surabaya.

In addition to NL, some of the suspects detained in connection with the Sugiarto homicide on 13 Aug. were identified as: MM, 42, NL’s husband (unregistered marriage) and the one who allegedly planned the murder; DM, 50, suspected of carrying out the fatal shooting; SY, 58, suspected of driving the motorcycle in carrying out the crime; AJ, 56, the suspected owner of the firearm used to commit the homicide; TH, 64, who allegedly sold the firearm used in the homicide; SP, suspected of brokering the firearm sale; and R, 52, who allegedly pretended to be a tax official.

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“Based on the results of the investigation, business rivalry is least likely to have been the motive. We investigated the crime scene and pursued daily inquiries before some light was cast on the case,” Nana said at a press conference on Monday.

He revealed that NL was an employee in the finance division at Sugiarto’s company, where she had worked since 2012. On questioning, NL claimed that she was frequently subject to verbal abuse and sexual harassment by Sugiarto.

The abuse worsened when Sugiarto allegedly threatened to report NL to the police following warnings from the North Jakarta branch of the Finance Ministry’s Directorate-General of Taxation. The warning was issued on allegations of tax fraud based on underreported or underpaid taxes by Sugiarto’s shipping company.

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The resentment, coupled with her fear of becoming embroiled in a legal case, apparently prompted NL to urge her husband, MM, to kill Sugiarto. NL allegedly put up Rp 200 million to have Sugiarto killed. MM then allegedly set out to plan and carry out the crime.

KOMPAS/JOHANES GALUH BIMANTARA

Metro Jaya Regional Police Chief Inspector General Nana Sudjana (second from right), Monday (24/8/2020), in Jakarta, shows evidence of the premeditated murder of Sugiarto in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.

On 9 Aug., R disguised himself as a tax officer in an attempt to entrap Sugiarto, who faced an actual tax problem. The suspects allegedly prepared a car for coercing Sugiarto to come to a nonexistent meeting. According to the plan, R would strangle Sugiarto with a rope if he agreed to attend the meeting and entered the car. However, the plan failed because Sugiarto refused to see R.

The plan to shoot and kill Sugiarto emerged later, and the group allegedly recruited DM to carry out the fatal shooting.

But DM had never used a firearm before, so suspect AJ, the owner of the firearm used in the crime, allegedly taught DM how to use a gun. The suspected weapon used in the crime was a Browning 380 automatic bearing the serial number NM01548.

The plan to shoot and kill Sugiarto emerged later, and the group allegedly recruited DM to carry out the fatal shooting.

Finally on 13 Aug., DM and SY carried out the plan to kill Sugiarto. They arrived in Kelapa Gading at 8:30 a.m. and waited for Sugiarto to come out of his office. Sugiarto eventually emerged from the premises at 12:45 p.m. Because of his inexperience with firearms, DM approached the target and fired five shots at close range. DM missed twice, but landed three shots that caused Sugiarto’s death.

The alleged perpetrators shared the money from NL between them after successfully carrying out the hit on Sugiarto.

CCTV footage

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The police identified the suspects of the homicide through a variety of forensic analyses including the crime scene, CCTV security video footage, questioning witnesses, and the autopsy results.

Among the 12 suspects, two did not participate in planning the crime but were detained for aiding the group of alleged perpetrators in procuring the firearm. The two were TH, who sold his gun for Rp 20 million to AJ, and SP, who brokered the firearm sale in exchange for a Rp 5 million commission from TH.

Nana said the gun was unregistered and thus illegal.

The suspects have been charged with premeditated murder under Articles 340 and 338 of the Criminal Code, which carry the death sentence. The suspects implicated in the illegal firearms case have been charged under Article 1, Paragraph 1 of Emergency Law No.12/1951, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years.