Prosecutors in Bali are demanding that a man on trial for killing an elderly Japanese couple in the island’s Jimbaran in a burglary gone bad, get 15 years for the crime.
District attorney Kadek Wahyudi made the plea in Denpasar District Court on Tuesday in the trial of local man, I Putu Astawa.
The killing of Japanese couple Matsuba Hiroko, 70, and Matsuba Nurio, 73, in their rented home in the residential area of Puri Gading, Jimbaran was violent and cruel, Wahyudi argued.
Astawa previously turned himself in for the crime and moreover, the prosecutor said that over the course of the trial, the defendant has been convincingly proven guilty of violating Article 365 paragraph 3 of the Indonesian Criminal Code, which covers theft by force, resulting in death.
Astawa should get the maximum 15 years penalty under that charge, according to Wahyudi.
The defendant will have his turn to plea before the court in the next hearing.
The scorched corpses of the elderly Japanese couple were found on Sept. 4, 2017 by their Indonesian foster son. The bodies, burned beyond recognition, both had stab wounds.
It’s alleged that Astawa entered the home of the Japanese couple on Sept. 3 through the gate with the intention of stealing the victims’ valuables. Hiroko walked in on Astawa and the two were engaged in a fight, but Astawa pushed the man to the floor then, fearing he already knew his identity, stabbed him several times and strangled him, according to Astawa’s indictment.
The defendant then went on to search the home for valuables, but five minutes later, the victim’s wife came.
“Nurio came into the room and was immediately surprised to see Hiroko on the floor, covered in blood. Then the defendant pushed her down on her stomach to the floor and immediately stabbed her in the neck with a knife,” Wahyudi said in court, as quoted by Antara Bali.
The defendant then left the scene of the crime and went to buy gasoline and returned later that evening to burn the bodies.
On Sept. 18, 2017 at 3am, the defendant reported his actions and surrendered himself to the police station in Pemogan, South Denpasar.
cssproductmanager@gmail.com says
What the hell is wrong with Indonesians? Death penalty for drugs but 15-years for murder?
Pak Nyoman says
Dealing METH is more dangerous than dealing death.