DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police say they are detaining three suspects for murder after an Australian tourist was shot to death at a villa in the resort island of Bali.
“We have successfully arrested three suspects last night,” Bali Police Chief Daniel Adityajaya told reporters in Denpasar, the provincial capital.
“The three suspects are Australian men and they are now being held and questioned for further investigation,” he said.
Zivan Radmanovic, a 32-year-old from Melbourne, was killed just after midnight on June 13 at a villa near Munggu Beach in Bali’s Badung district. A second man, a 34-year-old from Melbourne, was left beaten in the attack.
Police earlier said they had detained two suspects, but further investigation led police to arrest a third man who helped them to prepare the killing, Adityajaya said.
Witnesses at the villa told investigators that two gunmen arrived on a scooter at the villa around midnight.
Radmanovic was shot in a bathroom of his room, where police found 17 bullet casings and two intact bullets.
Radmanovic’s wife, Gourdeas Jazmyn, 30, told police that she suddenly woke up when she heard her husband screaming. She cowered under a blanket when she heard multiple gunshots.
She later found her husband’s body and the other injured Australian, whose wife also testified to seeing the attackers.
Adityajaya said based on the facts and evidences collected by police on the ground, “We have confidence that the three (suspects) are the perpetrators.”
Two of the men were arrested late Tuesday in Singapore and at Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta International Airport, while trying to flee. Indonesian police didn’t say where the third suspect was apprehended.
Adityajaya said the men are now being held in Bali and can face various charges, including murder and firearm charges, that could carry up to a life sentence or the death penalty if found guilty.
He said police are still investigating the motive and how they got the weapon as firearm ownership and use are heavily regulated in Indonesia.
“We are still investigating the possibility of other suspects,” Adityajaya said.
He praised the collaboration between Indonesian police and immigration agencies in tracking the whereabouts of the suspects with the support of the Australian Federal Police and Interpol in the Southeast Asia region.
