On January 6, 2016, Wayan Mirna Salihin was going to meet up with a friend she had met in Australia while they were studying at university. She was Jessica Wongso, a young woman who had just returned to her native country, Indonesia, and wanted to catch up with her friends. The appointment was in the afternoon at Café Olivier, a luxury establishment inside a shopping mall. Jessica arrived first, ordered the coffees for her friends and waited.
Almost an hour later, chaos broke out. Mirna decompensated in the middle of the cafeteria, making everyone present come forward to help. She began to convulse, she had difficulty breathing and within seconds an ambulance took her to a hospital. However, despite her attempts, the woman died.
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The tragic episode opened a series of unknowns that quickly pointed to her friend, Jessica Wongso. Thus, due to extensive media coverage, the death of Mirna Salihin became one of the cases that shocked the country the most and made Netflix transfer it to the small screen.
A coffee, a dispute and a betrayal
According to the reconstruction of the events, at 4:18 p.m. on January 6, Jessica Wongso entered Café Olivier, a prestigious place that could only be entered if dressed in luxury brands. There, she ordered three coffees, one for herself and two others for the friends she was going to meet.
Almost an hour later, Mirna and another young woman arrived to meet them and apologized for the delay. A few seconds after taking the first sip of her coffee, Salihin began to convulse. Quickly, the employees of the place came to assist her and noticed that she was having difficulty breathing, so they called an emergency ambulance. The girl later died in the hospital and the incident became a mystery, since she was a young person who led a healthy life.
Mirna Salihin was 27 years old and newly married. (Photo: Netflix)
Three days after the fact, Jakarta Police suggested it was possible poisoning and ordered an autopsy on the body. The next day, while Mirna’s wake was taking place, the results reinforced her first hypotheses: in her stomach, the forensic experts discovered remains of cyanide, one of the ten most toxic substances for humans. In this way, suspicion was pointed against the cafeteria employees and the friends who had accompanied her, and the cause was labeled as “homicide by poisoning”.
After the investigation of the witnesses, the focus shifted from the workers at the premises. Videos from security cameras recorded some attitudes on the part of Jessica Wonsgo that were suspicious: Before placing the order, he entered and left the premises several times, and, once he had the drinks in hand, he arranged the shopping bags he had made at the mall in such a way that he managed to “cover” the angle of the cameras .
“I always knew she was the murderer“, expressed Edi Salihin, father of the victim, in statements for the Netflix documentary, “A cold sip: Murder, coffee and Jessica Wongso”. His testimony was key to understanding what the relationship they both had was like.
The testimony of the victim’s father was key to understanding the relationship that his daughter had with Jessica Wongso. (Photo: The Sydney Morning Herald)
The young women had met in Australia when they started studying at college and they became very close. After a few years, they graduated and Mirna returned to Indonesia, while Jessica decided to continue her life there., since I was dating and wanted to maintain the relationship. Over time, both remained in contact, but, according to the statements of those close to the young woman, Wongso was “jealous” of Salihin because she led a “perfect” life and “was very happy”.
However, the main hypothesis that was developed was that Jessica’s motivation for the crime had to do with an event prior to her arrival in the Asian country: in a conversation, Mirna suggested that she leave her boyfriend because he treated her badly. . This exchange would have infuriated the young woman and it was the trigger that led her to plan her murder.
On January 29, Wongso declared to the authorities: “If you do things wrong, one day they will catch you”. The next day, the Police found her in a hotel north of the city of Jakarta, in a situation that appeared to be an escape, and arrested her. In turn, she was accused of premeditated homicidewhich provided for a minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum of life imprisonment or the death penalty.
A case that shocked the country
The trial began six months after Mirna’s death. On June 15, 2016, Jessica Wongso appeared at the doors of the Central Jakarta District Court as if she were a celebrity. She seemed calm and smiled at the cameras constantly, something for which public opinion pointed her out even more as the author of the crime.
At the trial, Wongso appeared calm and smiling in front of the cameras. (Photo: The Objective)
The case became one of the most reported in the country and The details were broadcast live 24 hours a day on 14 Indonesian television channels.. Little by little, the evidence that was shown against him – such as the recordings from the cafeteria’s security cameras and the testimony of those close to the victim – seemed to convince the jury.
However, there was a unexpected turn due to a strategy carried out by the defense: according to what was stated by a doctor called by Wongso’s lawyer, there was no way to verify that Mirna had died from poisoning since the autopsy was only performed on the stomach. In this sense, he appealed to could have died for another reasonas brain death, but since the studies were not carried out on the entire body, the first hypothesis could not be determined exactly.
Wongso’s sentencing came ten months after her friend’s death. (Photo: Netflix)
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This not only made the judge doubt but also changed the perspective of Indonesian society. Many began to support her on social networks and even carried out a campaign for her early release.
Despite this, on October 27 the Court announced its final verdict: Jessica Wongso was found guilty of the murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
She currently spends her days in the Jakarta women’s prison and, to this day, maintains that she is innocent.
