Family Murderer Andi Lala to Face Possible Death Sentence

The murder of a family which took place in Medan in early April, 2017 has sparked outrage in Indonesia. Andi Lala, who is reportedly the mastermind behind the massacre is looking at life imprisonment or even a death sentence.

Two weeks after the traumatic incident, police broke into his Riau home and escorted him to Medan on April 16, 2017, for further investigation.

Police commissioner Nurfallah revealed the motive behind Lala’s crime. Reportedly, Lala and one of the victims Riyanto (40) had problems related to a drug deal gone awry. “According to Andi Lala’s confession, he and Riyanto were meth addicts. Lala paid Riyanto Rp. 5 million ( US$375) for meth, but Lala never received the meth. When Riyanto was asked about the drugs, he became angry and yelled at Lala,” explained Nurfallah on April 17, 2017.

On the day of the incident, Lala visited Riyanto’s house and gave him a 300-gram bag of meth for them to consume. Lala then attacked Riyanto when he was distracted. But Lala did not only kill Riyanto, as there were four other murder victims including Riyanto’s wife Sri Ariyanti (40), his mother-in-law Sumarni (60), his daughter Syifa (13) and his son Gilang (8).

Police revealed that Riyanto and his family were not Lala’s first victims. In 2015, Lala’s wife had an affair with a man named Suherwan. Angered by this, Lala murdered Suherwan and dumped the body in a river in Lubuk Pakam.

“We are still investigating the information. Regarding the two murder cases, Andi Lala might face criminal laws 338 and 340 for premeditated murder,” said Sumut Chief of Police Rycko Amelza Dahniel. Currently, Lala may face 20 years imprisonment, life imprisonment or even the death penalty.