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Woman, son allegedly hire hitmen to murder husband, stepson over Rp 10b debt
Edi and his son were allegedly killed by his wife in Sukabumi, West Java, after Edi refused to sell the home he inherited from his parents to pay his wife's debt of Rp 10 billion.
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Police officials examine a burned car in Cidahu, Sukabumi, West Java on Sunday, as local residents look on. Police arrested six people related to the murder of a father and son whose bodies were found inside the car. (Kompas.com/Budiyanto)
T
he police have arrested a woman alleged to be behind the murder of Jakarta residents identified as father and son Edi Chandra Purnama, 54 and M. Adi Pradana, 23, whose bodies were found in a burning car in Cidahu, Sukabumi, West Java on Sunday.
The woman, identified only as AK, was Edi’s wife who allegedly orchestrated the murder over a debt amounting to Rp 10 billion (US$703,455), Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Cmr. Argo Yuwono said.
The police accused AK of planning the murder along with her biological son KV, 25, after Edi allegedly refused to sell his house to pay his wife’s debt.
AK also allegedly planned the murder with another person, identified only as R, who is still at large and whose role is still under investigation. The three allegedly hired four hitmen who live in Lampung.
“AK, GK and R planned the murder at an apartment in Kalibata, South Jakarta before they hired four assassins who then traveled to Jakarta for the murder,” Argo said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Upon arriving in Jakarta, the assassins, identified as AG, SG, RD and AL, were promised to be paid Rp 500 million for the mission. They met with AK in a car in the Kalibata area.
Sukabumi police chief Adj. Sr. Cmr. Nasriadi said that as the hitmen were on their way to Edi’s house in the Lebak Bulus area, also in South Jakarta, AL started to have seizures. RD then stayed behind with AL, leaving only AG and SG to proceed with the plan along with AK and KV, he added.
Once they arrived at Edi’s house, AG and SG allegedly killed Edi by poisoning, while Adi was killed by KV as the latter forced his stepbrother to drink strong acid water and then smothered him to death, Argo said.
AK and KV then allegedly took the dead bodies to Jl. Cidahu-Parakansalak, Bondol Village in Cidahu on Sunday morning.
AK allegedly bought a bottle of gasoline near the location. She then allegedly handed over the gasoline to her son KV to burn the car with the bodies inside.
A number of residents living nearby later noticed the burning Toyota car at around 12 p.m. on Sunday. They could also see two burned corpses as the flames got smaller.
The residents then reported the finding to the police, who acted swiftly and arrested AK and KV on Monday. The police later arrested the four hitmen in Lampung with the help of the Lampung Police.
KV is still receiving treatment at Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta as he suffered burn injuries from the flames when he allegedly burned the car.
Nasriadi said separately that further investigations showed that the planning of the murder had started last month when AK began to feel disappointed with her husband.
“AK has debts of Rp 10 billion to two banks and credit cards. The details of the suspect’s debts are debt to one bank amounting to Rp 7 billion, debt to another bank amounting to Rp 2.5 billion and credit card debt amounting to Rp 500 million,” said Nasriadi, as quoted by kompas.com.
“The money from the banks was used to start a business, but the business was not going well. So AK is now in huge debt that requires her to pay Rp 200 million per month,” Nasriadi added.
Nasriadi said that AK’s disappointment allegedly peaked when AK begged her husband to sell his house to pay off the debts, arguing that the debt owed to one of the banks was in the name of her husband.
“However, the request to sell the house was rejected by Edi given the house was an inheritance from his parents,” Nasriadi said.
Before planning to kill her husband and stepson, Nasriadi continued, AK had also tried to use paranormal services in the hope of opening the door to her husband's heart to willingly sell the house.
“The paranormal attempts failed. She then planned just to end her husband and stepson’s lives by asking some paid hitmen for help,” Nasriadi said. (syk)
