Indonesian serial killer gets death sentence

Apr 6, 2009, 10:44 GMT

   Jakarta - An Indonesian man who confessed to murdering 11 people was sentenced to death on Monday.

   The court in West Java's Depok district, just south of Jakarta, found Verry Idham Hermansyah, better known as Ryan, guilty of murdering Hery Santoso, who was stabbed and bludgeoned to death before being dismembered.

   The man was believed to be Ryan's last murder victim.

   Santoso's body parts were discovered by the Jakarta city police in a bag at a roadside the southern Jakarta on July 11, 2008.

   The panel of judges said in their verdict that Ryan had been convincingly and legally found guilty of committing a premeditated murder.

   Prosecutors, who had demanded the death penalty, accused Ryan of committing sadistic and merciless crimes.

   Ryan had previously confessed of murdering 10 other people and burying their bodies behind his parents' home in East Java province. The series of killings took place within a two-year period.

   While serving in detention, Ryan wrote an autobiography, telling stories from his childhood before he ended up in prison, his lawyer said.

   Ryan has also told reporters that he planned to release an album of pop songs, saying he had been offered a recording contract by a producer.

   His case received intense media coverage for weeks last year. Gay rights advocates have accused the media of an anti-homosexual hysteria by linking the murders to the suspect's sexuality.

   Police said the motive for the murders was money. The victims included a woman and her 3-year-old daughter whom police said were bludgeoned with a crowbar.