P

olice said on Friday that they had arrested three suspects for allegedly killing 23-year-old William Lim and dumping his body in the Sekretaris River in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, in March this year.

“All three suspects have been charged with forceful assault and murder under the Criminal Code,” the general crimes directorate’s violent crimes unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Helmy Santika told a press conference.

The Criminal Code stipulates a sentence of up to 15 years’ imprisonment for murder and up to five and a half years for forceful assault.

The suspects were identified as MR, 23; AW, 23; and RB, 21. Another suspect, MB, 17, is still at large. The police have confirmed that at least one of the suspects, MR, was the victim’s friend and schoolmate at a high school in Australia.

The police have also confiscated a car, a motorbike, two cell phones, and a PVC pipe as evidence.

According to Helmy, the suspects admitted they were ordered by an as yet unidentified Japanese man to collect a gambling debt of over Rp 800 million (US$84,000) from William. The Japanese man reportedly agreed to pay the three suspects between Rp 100 million and Rp 150 million for the job.

They went to collect the debt from William, who reportedly refused to pay. The suspects then got angry and beat William to death. They wrapped his body in plastics and dumped him in the Sekretaris River.

Helmy said that detectives would continue to investigate the case to find any other possible motives behind the murder.