Semarang. Police confirmed on Wednesday they have discovered at least 12 bodies in the town of Banjarnegara with the help of the murder suspect himself, Slamet Tohari, who allegedly tricked his victims into believing that he can magically multiply money before killing them with poisoned drinks.

Provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Ahmad Luthfi said the victims were buried in seven graves near Slamet’s home in the district of Wanayasa, about 400 kilometers east of Jakarta.

Inside every grave, police also found a drink bottle that allegedly had been used by the suspect to poison his victims using potassium cyanide.

The forensic team has so far identified only one of 10 bodies discovered earlier.

“Nine other bodies have not been identified, including the remains of six men and three women,” Ahmad told a news conference at the Central Java Police headquarters in Semarang.

The identification process is still ongoing on two other bodies retrieved on Tuesday.

According to the suspect, his victims have come from different places such as Gunung Kidul, Jakarta, Palembang, Tasikmalaya, and Yogyakarta, the officer said.

One body was identified as Prasetyo, who was reported missing by his children on March 27. They came to the police after receiving a WhatsApp message from Prasetyo that they should come to Slamet’s house accompanied by police if he didn’t return in two days.

The victim also shared his location using the app, leading police to Banjarnegara and found the body in a fresh grave near Slamet’s house last weekend.

Further investigation led to the discovery of nine other bodies on a site of around 20 square meters nearby on Monday.

A day later, police found two more bodies at a separate location in the same village.

Prasetyo was killed with a poisoned drink when he came to demand his money back, police said earlier.

Slamet, 45, who was presented during a news conference in Banjarnegara on Monday, didn’t deny his crime.

He said he had received Rp 70 million from Prasetyo whom he promised to multiply the money to Rp 5 billion. It’s not immediately known when his killing spree began as the investigation is still in the early stage.

Police charged Slamet with premeditated murder which carries the death sentence. 

It’s the second serial murder case using poisoned drinks the police have uncovered in just two months.

In early February, police arrested three men accused of killing at least nine people in the West Java towns of Cianjur and Bekasi.

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