On this date, 10 July 2008, an Indonesian Serial Killer, Ahmad Suradji was executed by the firing squad.
 |
Ahmad Suradji |
Ahmad Suradji (10 January 1949 – 10 July 2008) was a serial killer in Indonesia. Suradji, a cattle-breeder, was also known as Nasib Kelewang, or by his alias Datuk. He admitted to killing 42 girls and women over 11 years. His victims ranged in age from 11 to 30, and were strangled with a cable after being buried up to their waists in the ground as part of a ritual.
Suradji was arrested on 2 May 1997, after bodies were discovered near his home on the outskirts of Medan, the capital of North Sumatra. He buried his victims in a sugarcane plantation near his home, with heads of the victims facing his house, which he believed would give him extra power.
He told police that he had a dream in 1988 in which his father's ghost told him to kill 70 women and drink their saliva, so that he could become a mystic healer. As a sorcerer, or dukun, women came to him for spiritual advice or on making themselves more beautiful or richer. His three wives—all sisters—were also arrested for assisting in the murders and helping to hide the bodies. One of his wives, Tumini, was tried as his accomplice. The trial began on 11 December 1997, with a 363-page charge against him, and although Suradji maintained his innocence, he was found guilty on 27 April 1998, by a three-judge panel in Lubuk Pakam. He was sentenced to death by firing squad and executed on 10 July 2008.
 |
A local television station broadcast a chilling re-enactment of how executions are carried out in Indonesia. |