The Indonesian Military (TNI) said one of their own took his own life after a failed plot to murder his wife.
On July 18, Second Corporal M reportedly hired four hitmen to take out his wife, RW, so that he could be with his mistress. One of the hitmen fired four rounds at RW in front of her daughter, but they were thankfully non-fatal shots.
M even had the audacity to borrow money from his mother-in-law, telling her that he needed it for RW’s hospital bills. Instead, he used the money to pay the hitmen, who still partially charged him for the failed attempt, before taking the rest for his life on the lam.
M left his home in Semarang, Central Java and was a fugitive for over a week before he was found dead in his parents’ home in Kendal, Central Java on July 28.
This morning, Diponegoro 4th Regional Military Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Bambang Hermanto confirmed that an internal investigation found M committed suicide by drinking cyanide.
“The toxicology report showed that his urine sample, brain, left kidney, heart, and left lung contained the poison cyanide,” he said in Semarang.
Bambang added that there were no signs of violence on M’s body, which leaves suicide as the only plausible explanation for his death.
In addition, M left a suicide note for his wife and children. He had also confided with his parents about his shame and that he was no longer able to live with himself.
RW was discharged from hospital in August. The hitmen, meanwhile, were charged with premeditated murder attempt, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Indonesia currently does not have a dedicated government-run suicide prevention hotline, but if you or anyone you know is suffering from depression and/or contemplating suicide, you can get more information and resources from several local NGOs dealing with mental health and suicide prevention, such as intothelightid.org.
