Overview
- At a preliminary hearing in Mataram, prosecutors accused Suhaeli (“Eli”) and Heri Ridwan (“Geri”) of homicide, premeditated murder and robbery with violence under Indonesia’s penal code.
- Investigators say Ridwan confessed after police, with help from Interpol and Jakarta officers, traced the victim’s phone, which had been sold days after the killing.
- The prosecution’s account says the robbery was planned on July 1 and carried out around 3:30 a.m. on July 2, when the suspects entered through a window and suffocated Matilde Muñoz after she awoke.
- Prosecutors allege the body was hidden in a hotel machine room, then moved to a dump, and later buried on a nearby beach where it was found in late August about half a kilometre from the hotel.
- The court set the next session for January 7 to hear evidence and witnesses, while Muñoz’s relatives press for investigation of additional hotel staff and closer Spanish diplomatic involvement.