The murder case of a woman found dead in a rice sack in south Denpasar on Saturday has moved quickly.
Police have both identified the deceased and have arrested the alleged suspect in the killing.
Murder suspect Arif Santoso, 37 admitted he wanted the victim’s phone, police told reporters on Monday.
On Saturday, local residents in Sidaykarya, south Denpasar came across a dead middle-aged widow, apparently discarded in a rice sack. Bali police have now identified the victim as 46-year-old Jematun, from Mojokerto, East Java.
The suspect, Santoso, from Banyuwangi, East Java, was arrested at the junkyard where he had been working on Jl. Danau Tempe on Sunday afternoon around 2 pm, reports Nusa Bali.
Physical evidence found at the scene of the crime such as a bottle of water and rope, along with CCTV footage near where Jematun’s body was discovered aided police in their 18-hour-long hunt for the woman’s killer, reports said.
“Initially, he was evasive. But we dared to raid him, because of evidence bagged. Well, after that, he admitted everything,” Denpasar Police Commissioner Hadi Purnomo said, as quoted by Nusa Bali.
Purnomo says that the suspect’s desire to make off with the victim’s phone was behind the motive. And local newspaper Tribun Bali published a report alleging there had been a sexual encounter between victim and suspect before the killing.
Santoso could be facing charges carrying max imprisonment time of 15 years.
“Currently the case is being handled by South Denpasar Police,” Purnomo said.
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