Jessica accused of 'revenge killing'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Wed, June 15 2016


Prosecutors have accused Jessica Kumala Wongso of the premeditated murder of her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin. Mirna died in January after she consumed a cyanide-tainted coffee at Olivier Café in Jakarta.

Prosecutor Ardito Muwardi told judges at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday that Jessica had murdered Mirna in revenge, claiming that Jessica had been outraged at Mirna, whom is said to have repeatedly told Jessica to break up with her boyfriend.

“Mirna advised Jessica to break up with boyfriend because her boyfriend was a drug abuser and violent. Mirna said that Jessica’s boyfriend was not a good person and had a bad economic situation. Jessica was offended by Mirna’s advice,” Ardito said.

The murder trial proceedings commenced at 10:20 a.m. with Jessica, the sole suspect in the case, who has been detained for about 5 months, attending the trial wearing a red detainee vest. The court hearing was presided over by Kisyoro, accompanied by two other judges, Partahi and Binsar Panjaitan.

According to Ardito, Jessica had broken up with her boyfriend. He also alleged that, in Australia, she had become a troublemaker, citing that due to Jessica’s behavior had led to police involvement on several occasions in Australia.

Jessica was accompanied at the trial by 15 lawyers . Sordame Purba, one of Jessica’s lawyers, called the prosecutors’ indictment nonsense.

“It is nonsense that Jessica flew from Sydney to Jakarta to murder Mirna. It is unfair that Jessica was the only suspect in the case, when some people, such as Mirna’s husband Arief Soemarko, Mirna’s friend Hani, and the staff who made the coffee were also involved at the time of the incident,” Sordame said.

The judges have given prosecutors a week to provide an answer to the lawyer’s claims. The trial has been suspended until June 21, Kisyoro said.

Mirna died after she drank a cyanide-laced iced coffee at Olivier cafe in Central Jakarta during a meeting with Jessica and another friend, Hani, on Jan. 6.



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Also from the Jak Pos, same date,

Jessica's lawyers plead for justice,

The lawyers of murder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso rejected all charges against their client after the indictment was read out at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

Jessica, 27, stands accused of the premeditated murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin. The charge carries the death penalty.

Her lawyers said the prosecution had failed to find proof that Jessica had planned the murder and pointed out that was a third person called Hani who had initiated the meeting at Olivier restaurant on Jan. 6. They said that under such circumstances, the court should ensure that justice was served and Jessica pronounced not guilty.

Lawyer Otto Hasibuan said the prosecution had failed to prove that Jessica had spiked Mirna’s iced coffee with cyanide or that Jessica had ever been in possession of cyanide.

He also criticized the prosecution for not mentioning in the indictment whether the cyanide was in powder or liquid form.

“No one saw Jessica put cyanide in Mirna’s coffee. Even if she did put something in it, the prosecution can’t recklessly conclude that she put cyanide in Mirna’s cup. It could have been sugar that she put in the coffee, couldn’t it?” Otto said.

“Jessica only visited Olivier restaurant once, which was on the day of the incident. She didn’t even know where the CCTVs were,” Otto said.

The indictment had been haphazardly drafted and was incomplete, unclear and inaccurate, Otto claimed.


Jessica studied ‘execution place', avoided CCTV: Prosecutor,

Prosecutors of the Central Jakarta District Court claim Jessica Kumala Wongso studied the cafe murder scene thoroughly just hours before her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin died after drinking cyanide-tainted coffee.

The prosecutors, lead by Ardito Muwandi, told the court on Wednesday that Jessica, the sole suspect in the premeditated murder case, apparently knew the locations of the closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the Olivier Cafe as she allegedly tried to block the cameras with three paper bags strategically located on her table.

Jessica, Mirna and their friend Hani had agreed to meet at Olivier Cafe in Grand Indonesia in Central Jakarta on Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting place and time were chosen by Jessica and she had arrived early at around 3:30 p.m., long before her friends, Ardito said as he read the indictment out loud.

After entering the Olivier café, Jessica was recorded through CCTV to be examining the locale. After a short while, she left the cafe and went to a Bath and Body Works shop in the West Mall of the same shopping center to buy three types of bath salts.

"She ordered the shop worker to put those bath salts in three paper bags,” Ardito said during the trial of the high profile murder case.

Prosecutors said Jessica returned to Olivier cafe at around 4:14 p.m. with the three paper bags. She directly headed to the non-smoking area and chose to sit at table number 54, which had a wall as a backing. She then ordered a Vietnamese coffee for Mirna and two cocktails for herself and Hani, Ardito said, adding that after ordering Jessica immediately paid the bill.

A coffeemaker named Rangga made the Vietnamese coffee based on the café's procedure. Waiter Agus Triono brought the coffee to the table and was followed by another employee named Marlon who served the cocktails.

“After Marlon left the table, Jessica moved to the center of the couch. She arranged the three paper bags upon the table to block the views of other people. For about 15 minutes, Jessica put the cyanide into Mirna’s glass,” Ardito claimed as he read the indictment.

Mirna died instantly in the cafe after drinking the coffee. Doctors who performed an autopsy found that she died from a corrosive substance in her stomach.



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