Indonesian Court Sentences 'Money-Multiplying' Shaman Slamet Tohari to Death for Poisoning 12
A Banjarnegara court found the self-styled shaman poisoned 12 clients and buried them. One judge dissented in favor of life; he said one word: appeal.
Published
The presiding judge read the sentence without hedging. "Menjatuhkan pidana kepada terdakwa (Slamet Tohari) oleh karena itu dengan pidana mati," Niken Rochayati told the Banjarnegara District Court in Central Java on Thursday, February 1, 2024: the court sentenced the defendant to death. Slamet Tohari, known to his clients as Mbah Slamet, had promised people that he could multiply their money. The court found that he had poisoned 12 of them and buried them.
The panel found him guilty of premeditated murder, committed more than once and against more than one victim. It also convicted him of keeping rupiah he knew to be counterfeit and of fraud, carried out with others, against more than one victim. The verdict named him in full as Tuhari, also called Tohari and Mbah Slamet.
In listing the aggravating factors, Rochayati described how the 12 had died. He poisoned them with potas mixed into their drinks, and the judge said they suffered extraordinary pain before they died. He then buried them in a way she called inhuman. He watched each of the 12 drink, she said, and showed them no pity. Some of the victims left children who had now lost both parents. After the killings he went to karaoke and paid for it with the money he had taken, which the judge called vile and beyond the bounds of human decency.
The court found that he had prepared nine more doses of potas for any client who came to collect and threatened to report him to the police, and that only his arrest kept him from using them. He had been convicted of a counterfeit-money offense before, and the judge said that returning to the same crime, and to worse, showed no sign of remorse. Asked for mitigating factors, the court listed none. "Untuk hal yang meringankan nihil," she said.
The decision was not unanimous. According to his lawyer, Ahmad Raharjo, one of the three judges filed a dissenting opinion in favor of life imprisonment. After conferring with his two lawyers in the courtroom, Tohari gave his answer in a single word: "Banding," appeal. Raharjo said there were matters the defense felt had not all come out at trial, and that the dissent was one more reason to appeal.
Two of the dead came from Magelang: Theresia Dewi, 47, and her son, Okta Ali Abrianto, 31. Reached by reporters the next day, Theresia's older brother, Yusuf Edi Gunawan, said the family was satisfied with the sentence. "Ya sudah lega," he said. They were relieved.
The quotations from the court and the family are in Indonesian as reported by detikJateng; the translations are ours. The judge's reasons are taken from the verdict reading as that outlet reported it. The court's written judgment has not been examined, and the outcome of the appeal is not part of this story.
Sources
- Serial Killer Mbah Slamet Dukun Banjarnegara Divonis Mati!, detikJateng (Uje Hartono)
- Vonis Mati buat Mbah Slamet Dukun Banjarnegara Pembunuh 12 Korban, detikJateng