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Police grill suspects on motive in sadistic murder
Fransisca Yofie: FacebookThe Bandung City Police revealed on Sunday that in separate arrests they had detained two suspects involved in a sadistic murder committed last week, Antara news agency reported on Sunday
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Fransisca Yofie: FacebookThe Bandung City Police revealed on Sunday that in separate arrests they had detained two suspects involved in a sadistic murder committed last week, Antara news agency reported on Sunday.
Bandung City Police chief of detectives, Adj. Sr. Comr. Trunoyudho Wisnu, identified the suspects as Ade and Wawan.
'Ade surrendered to the police on Saturday. Wawan was arrested while riding a motorcycle in Ciranjang, Cianjur regency, with his wife,' he said Sunday.
He said Wawan was Ade's uncle. The suspects are currently being held at the Bandung City Police headquarters.
'We initially looked for Wawan in Cililin, West Bandung regency, but he managed to escape,' he said.
'Wawan was arrested at about 11 a.m. while riding the motorcycle used in the murder.'
The two were suspected of the murder of Fransisca 'Sisca' Yofie, who was a branch manager of PT Venera Multi Finance, on Aug. 5.
She was reportedly about to enter her boarding house on Jl. Setra Indah Utara, having opened one of the two padlocks on the house gate.
The boarding house owner later found her car parked outside the gate with the driver's door open and the engine still running.
The murder shocked Bandung, as the two suspects dragged Sisca alongside the motorcycle for about 500 meters from the front of her boarding house.
Wawan is believed to have been on the back holding Sisca by the hair while Ade drove the motorcycle.
The suspects then stopped near a field on Jl. Cipedes Tengah and slashed her forehead with a machete.
A CCTV recording that captured the crime showed Sisca being dragged, her body motionless. In the recording, the
perpetrators were wearing full face helmets, making it difficult to identify them.
The location was quiet during the time of the crime because most residents were inside their homes breaking the Ramadhan fast.
The victim was found lying on the road by children playing with fireworks.
Sisca died in a patrol car en route from the Sukajadi Police sub-precinct her to Hasan Sadikin General Hospital.
An autopsy report revealed that Sisca suffered bruises all over her body and an open wound on the forehead caused by a sharp weapon.
Trunoyudho said his detectives were currently interrogating the two suspects.
'We are still obtaining their full confessions. We also detained the suspect's [Wawan's] wife to get further information,' he said.
The suspects claimed that they were common bag snatchers and had not intended to kill the victim.
They said Sisca's hair was trapped in the motorcycle gear box.
Their confessions, however, are dubious because none of the victim's belongings were missing.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bandung City Police chief Sr. Comr. Sutarno spoke about the murder.
'Our initial suspicion is that the murder might be related to vengeance because none of the victim's belongings were missing or taken by the suspects,' Sutarno told tribunnews.com.
He added that his detectives were investigating a number of statuses on Sisca's Facebook account.
In several recent status updates, Sisca had written condemnations and curses toward someone.
'We have questioned several witnesses but have not yet been able to draw any conclusions,' said Sutarno.
