close
close

British businessman remains in custody in Hong Kong over the killing of an Indonesian woman

HONG KONG (AP) — A British businessman was ordered to remain in custody Friday after being charged with murder in Hong Kong over the death of an Indonesian woman at a park waterfall.

Jamie Tzewee Chapman, 34, did not enter a plea when he appeared in court and his attorney did not request bail. The judge adjourned the case until January to allow time for further investigation.

Chapman and his wife, a Hong Kong woman, were arrested on Tuesday as they returned to the city from mainland China. His wife was held on suspicion of aiding and abetting a perpetrator before being released on bail pending further investigations, police said on Thursday.

Police said Chapman and the Indonesian woman went together to a waterfall in a park on Hong Kong Island on Sunday evening. He left about half an hour later, and residents discovered the woman's body in the pond below the waterfall on Monday morning, police said. She was hit in the head and drowned.

Mevi Novitasari, about 25, was a domestic worker in Hong Kong but did not work for the suspect, police said.

She comes from Cilacap in Central Java province, said Judha Nugraha, Indonesia's director for the protection of Indonesian citizens and legal entities.

Their employment agency and the Indonesian consulate will facilitate the repatriation of the remains and the consulate general will continue to monitor the investigation, he said.

___

Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report