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Margriet's house searched to confirm murder allegation
The National Policeâs Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) deployed on Friday a team to reexamine the house where 8-year-old Engeline Margriet Megawe was found dead in a bid to cross-check the recent confession recantation of suspect Agustay âAgusâ Hamda May who denied murdering and abusing her
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he National Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) deployed on Friday a team to reexamine the house where 8-year-old Engeline Margriet Megawe was found dead in a bid to cross-check the recent confession recantation of suspect Agustay 'Agus' Hamda May who denied murdering and abusing her.
In the latest twist in the murder of Engeline, Agus on Thursday retracted his previous statement that he raped and killed the child, saying that it was the child's adoptive mother, Margriet Christina Megawe, who murdered her.
On Friday, officers from the Bareskrim's Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (Inafis) searched Margriet's house on Jl. Sedap Malam, Denpasar, in order to collect new evidence for the case.
Inafis head Brig. Gen. Bekti Suhartono said the team found blood spots and fingerprints after examining areas around the house.
'We found more blood spots and fingerprints, but we have yet to be able to come up with a new conclusion, as we still have to wait for results of the examination from the forensic laboratory,' he told reporters.
The team, according to Bekti, also searched several rooms inside the house to look for more evidence to strengthen Agus's latest statement.
Another team of Inafis officers from Denpasar Police has earlier examined the crime scene the day before. 'We reexamined the house today to make sure that both teams did not miss anything,' Bekti said.
Agus' lawyer Haposan Sihombing said Thursday that during the investigation his client claimed to hear Engeline shout, 'Mom, don't beat me!' from Margriet's bedroom on May 16, the day she was reported missing.
He said Margriet then called Agus and he saw the girl was bleeding and dying on the floor when he entered the bedroom. Agus told police that, after learning that the child had died, Margriet asked Agus to wrap Engeline and her doll up in a bedcover and she ordered Agus to bury her in the backyard.
Police found the body on June 10 after the child has been reported missing for a month. The missing child attracted public attention when the family created a Facebook page for Engeline called, 'Find Engeline ' Bali's Missing Child'.
Haposan added that Margriet promised to give Agus Rp 200 million (US$15,000) for burying the body and threatened to kill him should he refuse.
So far, police have named Margriet only as a suspect for neglecting the child.
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Ronny Franky Sompie, said that the new statement from Agus marked a significant development in the case that had attracted nationwide attention. He said Agus was not only a suspect in this case, but also a key witness.
'This was a significant development in the investigation. Agus' statement made it clear that there is another suspect and we will search for more evidence to strengthen his statement,' he said.
Police have also questioned five witnesses, including Margriet's two biological daughters, Yvonne Caroline Megawe and Christina Telly Megawe.
The other witnesses were Franky Alexander Maringka, Yuliet Christien and Lorraine Soriton, all of whom had been living in Margriet's house.
