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Engeline's murderer gets life in prison
The sentence: Margriet Christina Magawe leaves the Denpasar District Court in Bali on Monday after receiving a life sentence for the murder of her adoptive daughter Engeline
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The sentence: Margriet Christina Magawe leaves the Denpasar District Court in Bali on Monday after receiving a life sentence for the murder of her adoptive daughter Engeline. Margriet will appeal the guilty verdict.(JP/Zul Trio Anggono) (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
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span class="inline inline-center">The sentence: Margriet Christina Magawe leaves the Denpasar District Court in Bali on Monday after receiving a life sentence for the murder of her adoptive daughter Engeline. Margriet will appeal the guilty verdict.(JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
The Denpasar District Court in Bali on Monday agreed to the demand from prosecutors to punish Margriet Christina Megawe, 60, with life in prison for murdering 8-year-old Engeline Margriet Megawe.
The court's sentence concluded the four-month-long trial that captivated the entire nation.
The court also sentenced the other defendant, Agustay Handa May, to 10 years in prison for helping Margriet, the victim's adoptive mother, cover up her crime.
A panel of three judges agreed that Margriet was guilty of violating Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison or capital punishment.
The judges also declared Margriet guilty of violating multiple articles in the 2002 Child Protection Law by exploiting Engeline for economic reasons and abandoning her.
'The defendant is found guilty of premeditated murder, child exploitation, child abandonment and discrimination. She is therefore sentenced to life in prison,' presiding judge Edward Harris Sinaga said.
The judges said that based on witnesses and evidence presented during the trial, Margriet was incapable of taking care of Engeline as she had no steady income for the past few years. Thus, starting several years ago, she used her backyard to raise chickens and sell them to people. She forced Engeline to take care of all the chickens.
'The defendant tried to hide the fact that she was no longer able to take care of the victim. Thus, she wanted to kill her because it was impossible to give the victim back to her biological parent,' Edward said.
The judges also emphasized that Margriet had prepared a murder plan as she had told Agustay, her former domestic worker, to dig a burrow in the backyard before killing the victim.
'The defendant prepared a carefully thought-out plan before and after the murder,' the verdict said.
Margriet was surprisingly calm when her sentence was read out.
She did not shed tears like she did when the prosecutors read out their sentence demand on Feb. 4.
In contrast, Engeline's biological mother, Hamidah, who was present on Monday, cried after the judges read out the sentence.
'She should have been sentenced to death. She must feel what my daughter felt,' Hamidah said.
Margriet's lawyer, Hotma Sitompoel, meanwhile, said that his client would file an appeal against the court's guilty verdict in a higher court.
Engeline's body was found buried in the backyard of Margriet's house in June last year after she was declared missing several weeks beforehand.
Engeline's disappearance attracted public attention and the family created a Facebook page for Engeline called 'Find Engeline ' Bali's Missing Child'.
However, a police investigation later led to accusations that Margriet had killed Engeline by slamming her head into the floor and then ordered Agustay Handa May, her domestic worker, to bury the corpse.
The police named Agustay a suspect immediately after they found Engeline's body. They named Margriet the main suspect a couple of weeks later.
Both suspects have been undergoing separate trials in the murder case since October last year.
When testifying as a witness in Margriet's trial, Agustay said his employer had tortured Engeline by pulling her hair and repeatedly slamming her head into the floor prior to her death.
He also said Margriet ordered him to cover Engeline's body, along with her doll, with bed linen and a curtain and that she burned Engeline's back with a cigarette to ascertain whether or not she was dead.
After he took Engeline's body to the backyard and buried her there, Agustay testified that Margriet told him to cover the spot with a big red basket and put some chicken feed on it to avoid suspicion.
Agustay's sentence was lighter than the 12 years' imprisonment sought by prosecutors.
Reading out Agustay's sentence, judge Edward, who also served as the presiding judge in Agustay's trial, said that the defendant had helped Margriet bury Engeline's body and was thus guilty of violating Article 181 of the Criminal Code for concealing evidence and articles 76 and 80 of the Child Protection Law.
The panel of judges, however, declared that Agustay was not guilty of premeditated murder.
Agustay's lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, said that his client would challenge the sentence. He said that the sentence was too heavy for Agustay because he was forced to help Margriet bury Engeline's body.
Timeline of Engeline murder case
May 16, 2015
Eight-year-old Engeline Margriet Megawe Engeline is reported missing
June 10, 2015
Engeline's body is found buried in the backyard of Margriet Christina Megawe's house on Jl. Sedap Malam in Denpasar. Police name Margriet's former domestic worker Agustay Handa May a suspect.
June 14, 2015
Police name Margriet as a suspect in a child abandonment case.
June 18, 2015
Agustay retracts his previous statement that he had raped and killed Engeline, saying that Margriet, the victim's adoptive mother, had murdered her.
June 28, 2015
Police name Margriet as main suspect in Engeline's murder
Sep. 7, 2015
Bali Police investigators hand over dossiers and
supporting evidence in the murder case to the Denpasar Prosecutor's
Office. The office confirms that the dossiers are sufficient to bring
the case to trial.
Dec. 21, 2015
Agustay testifies that Engeline was tortured on the day she was killed.
Feb. 2
Prosecutors demand the Denpasar District Court sentence Agustay to 12 years in prison and a fine of Rp 1 billion (US$75,000).
Feb. 4
Prosecutors demand a life sentence for Margriet.
Feb. 29
The Denpasar District Court sentences Margriet to life imprisonment, Agustay to 10 years in prison.
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