Summary of Facts in Chronological Order

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Written by: Michael Christian Jonatan

I think it’s time to summarize facts that we have managed to collect until now. I’m writing this in English so this summary will benefit more people. When I’m unsure about a fact, I’ll give a bracket with “confirmation required” message. Please help me double-check everything, and let me know if I forgot something or made a mistake somewhere. I sincerely hope this will help us to construct our thoughts.

Summary of Facts in Chronological Order

*David Hartanto Widjaja*
1) An Indonesian student who was selected to represent Indonesia in International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) in Mexico during his senior high school days at SMUK 1, Jakarta.

2) He is known to be cheerful, nice, pleasant, and not easily stressed. One of his IMO friends said that when David was on the verge not being able to represent Indonesia for IMO, he did not show any sign of disappointment, let alone depression.

3) He is known to be an avid gamer, spending hours everyday playing computer games. His online game friends testify that David, known by the nickname Majin / Terra Majin, is a very fun, humorist, and pleasant person. Some of the games he played are Destiny Online and Hammerfall RPG on Facebook.

4) David’s ASEAN scholarship was terminated at the end of semester 7 due to his poor grades, reported to be below the required 3.5 GPA. David has informed his family as soon as he received this news, which is about 3 weeks before the incident. David and his family accepted the fact, and they don’t have the slightest of problems to make the final $3000 payment for David’s final (8th) semester.

*Final Year Project (FYP)*
1) Prof Chan Kap Luk (CKL) was David’s Industrial Attachment (IA) supervisor.

2) Students in NTU are given the freedom to choose their professor and the project title. David probably chose CKL because David was very satisfied with their relationship during IA.

3) The title of David’s FYP: Multiview acquisition from Multi-camera configuration for person adaptive 3D display. The goal is to create a 3D image of an object by processing the image produced by multiple cameras. If successful, this technology could lead to a breakthrough in security and military technology.

4) This project is reported to have received $500k funding from an unknown source (confirmation required). Whether the money is only for this project, or this FYP is a sub-project of a bigger one, is unknown.

5) The FYP is a two-semester program, so it has already started on semester 7. FYP draft report must be submitted about 4-6 weeks into semester 8, while the final report should be submitted a few weeks thereafter.

6) The FYP grade will not be disclosed until the end of the final semester.

*Geographical Details of NTU*
Please refer to Link

*A week before the incident*
1) David chatted with his brother William once during that week, and William did not detect anything strange from his little brother.

2) David put a “Do Not Disturb” message on his Facebook. It is believed that David wanted to focus more on his FYP that week. The message (require confirmation) is believed to be ”Tidak menerima tamu di rumah dan telepon untuk sementara ini” or “Not accepting any guests at home or phonecalls at this moment”.

*2 March 2009*
02.00 AM: David’s friend saw him online on Facebook, playing Hammerfall RPG.

09.00 AM: Approximately around this time, David is still active in a game’s forum, reading and posting message(s) (confirmation required).

10.00 AM: Approximately around this time David is believed to meet CKL. David brought his towel and drinking bottle with him inside his bag to CKL’s office. Around this time also, Zhou Zheng (ZZ) was also believed to start his first day at work by looking for some professors, one of them is CKL, to get approval letters. ZZ need these letters to get his lab key(s) and start working.

10.30 AM: David and CKL came out from CKL’s office. Both were wounded, and they headed to different directions. CKL seeking help from nearby officers, the knife without handle was found to be with CKL. It is unknown who brought the knife to the office, and where is the missing handle. Meanwhile David headed to the nearby staircase, went from B1 down to B2, climbed the protective railing, and sit on top of the roof of the connecting bridge to Research Techno-Plaza. Some eye-witnesses saw David, soaked in blood, running.

10.35 AM: Some eye-witnesses saw David on top of that roof and tried to talk him to prevent David from jumping, but they failed. David jumped down to ground floor (it is still unclear whether David voluntarily jumped or he tried to escape to the floor below, or he lost consciousness and fell). Police were immediately notified.

10.45 AM: David was pronounced dead by the police. CKL should have received emergency medical attention by now, and he should soon be conveyed to National University Hospital (NUH) to receive medical treatment.

11.00 AM: A lot of people visited the crime scene.

Afternoon time: David’s family was notified, and they flew immediately to Singapore. NTU tried to calm the situation. Police were investigating the case. After which, David’s body is removed from the scene, and all blood trails were washed clean. Police report came out at 4.30 PM.

Evening time: David’s family arrived in Singapore. They asked to see David’s body, but were denied by the authorities. David’s family was disgruntled, but they complied nonetheless. Then they proceed to see the crime scene, only to find it clean without a trace, not even a police line was found. David’s family then went to David’s room, and surprised to find David’s computer still on, with his MSN Messenger still online.

*3 March 2009*
1) News broke out, primarily started by Singapore media, that David believed to have stabbed CKL, and then committed suicide. The media claimed to have seen slash wound on David’s wrist.

2) CKL is announced to have passed critical stage and his life is not in danger.

3) David’s family was finally allowed to see David’s body, but only from neck upwards. David’s body was covered in plastic. They requested the police to open his whole body, but the request was denied. They managed to confirm with the police that there is a large slash wound on David’s neck below his chin, and there is no slash wound whatsoever on his wrists. They also saw there is a lot of blood on David’s buttock.

4) David’s family’s request to meet CKL is denied, because CKL is still in ICU.

5) David’s family then tried to meet the eye-witnesses, but again that request is denied by NTU, and the reason NTU gave was “it has to be kept confidential”.

6) ZZ worked in the same lab as David. When he was home, he left his front door open and burned sacred papers for prayers. This routine attracted his neighbors’ attention, and it continued everyday until ZZ was found dead on Friday.

*4 March 2009*
1) CKL was allowed to leave NUH. When asked about the incident, he chose to remain silent. CKL is believed to spend his time at home, recuperating and recovering himself from the tragic incident.

2) The discrepancy posted by Singapore media raised many eyebrows around the globe, which led to many Indonesians rallying support for David and demand justice to be served.

3) Indonesian Embassy said they did not have the authority to interfere with the investigation, and thus relied fully to Singapore Police to do the investigation.

4) David is cremated, based on family tradition.

5) David’s family left Singapore after finishing all administrative tasks regarding David, including closing bank accounts, etc. They did not see the point of staying in Singapore any longer, after being denied access on virtually everything they asked to help shed some light on David’s case.

6) David’s laptop is held by Singapore Police for investigation.

*6 March 2009*
10.30 PM: ZZ was found hanged in his balcony by his housemate, by then he was already dead. Police were notified by his friends. When police arrived, ZZ has been brought down by his friends.

10.55 PM: ZZ was pronounced dead by the police.

The second suspected murder case in NTU within a week sparked even more attention towards these cases. Many wondered whether there is connection between ZZ’s death and David’s death.

*Zhou Zheng*
1) He is 24 years old, born in Hubei, China.

2) He and David worked on the same field, and coincidentally on the same lab, under the same professor, CKL.

3) CKL, through his wife said, he did not know ZZ.

4) ZZ graduated on June 2008 from NTU (confirmation required). He was then on training under a company. He was then transferred to another country to continue his training. 2 months later, ZZ and his colleagues were ordered to return to Singapore, and before long their job were terminated.

5) According to NTU, ZZ has just transferred to the school on Monday, 2 March 2009, and his task is to help and teach students in the lab.

6) One lab assistant said that his friend is a good friend of ZZ. Prior to ZZ’s death, his friend did not observe anything strange from ZZ. ZZ only mentioned that he got a heart disease.

7) People who live near ZZ’s apartment said that they did not know ZZ, and a day before the incident they also did not hear any strange noises.

8) Lian He Wan Bao from Singapore, quoted a statement from a foreigner couple. The couple said that they did not know ZZ, but they remember him, because he often leaves his front door open and often burns sacred papers for praying. ZZ also often seen praying in front of the door.

9) A guy nicknamed Asalim posted the following in
http://www.gabrielsai.com/blog/2009/03/a-conspiracy-theory-on-deaths-in-ntu.html
“Zhou Zheng is a new Project Officer and he is just joined on March 2, the day of David’s incident. As far as I know, because I was also an ex-Project Officer in that lab (ISRL/S2-B3a-06), on the first day I joined, I need to find 3 Professors to approve that I will be stationed in that lab and to get the lab key. And of course, you need to walk around the professors office area to look for the profs. And, one of the prof is the Head of Information Engineering which is located at S1-B2c area, near the Prof Chan’s office which is in S1-B2b area. As I remember, on the day I joined, 10am to 11 am is the time when I was also looking for the profs on the day I joined. (The form need to be signed immediately because it is needed to get the Lab key)

So, my opinion is that person “might” be around the Profs office area at the time of David’s incident. I use the word “might” because this is just my speculations. And, my point is this person might be connected to David’s case also.”