Indonesia police suspect journalist killed man then reported the murder

PEKANBARU, Indonesia (Reuters) - An Indonesian journalist is suspected of murdering a man and then reporting news of the killing shortly afterwards, police said on Wednesday.

Police arrested Edison Purba, a journalist covering crime for the Pekanbaruexpress.com website, last week along with two others suspected of the robbery and killing of a man after he withdrew money from a bank in Pekanbaru city on Sumatra island. "According to evidence, Edison was involved," said Pekanbaru chief detective Hariwiyawan, adding that Purba had regularly contacted police for news about crime.

Purba was believed to have returned to the scene of the killing to report on it, according to police and media.

Pekanbaruexpress.com published his report along with a photograph Purba took of the victim lying on a blood-stained road. In the report, Purba identified the victim as Mulyono, 35, but said the killer and motive were not known.

Police arrested Edison and two other suspects after one of them turned himself in. "One of them didn't get the money that was supposed to be split among them. That was why he confessed to the police," Hariwiyawan said. "They are accusing each other of being the killer."

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