The Wowon–Duloh Serial Murder Case

The Bekasi deaths that broke the case open

On January 12, 2023, Ai Maimunah and her sons Ridwan Abdul Muiz and Muhammad Riswandi became critically ill at a rented home in Bekasi and died. What first appeared publicly as poisoning quickly became a homicide investigation. Police arrested Wowon Erawan, Solihin — widely known as Duloh — and M. Dede Solehudin.

Prosecutors later alleged that the three deaths were planned. Trial reporting said the defendants had arranged the poisoning in advance and prepared a burial site behind the rented house. The Bekasi case became the clearest adjudicated part of a much larger investigation.

A money-multiplication fraud scheme

Police described a parallel fraud operation in which victims were persuaded that the group could multiply money or produce supernatural financial returns. ANTARA reported that investigators identified at least 11 migrant-worker fraud victims and were still tracing others. When victims demanded their money back or threatened to expose the scheme, police alleged that some became targets for murder.

Investigators also said Wowon used the fictional identity “Aki Banyu” to issue instructions and reinforce the deception. Contemporary police reporting described different roles for the defendants, with Wowon recruiting or directing victims and Solihin acting as an executioner in several alleged killings.

Nine police-identified deaths — but not nine identical court findings

By late January 2023, police publicly said they had identified nine deceased victims connected to the investigation in Bekasi, Cianjur and Garut. Those included the three Bekasi victims as well as people whose remains were recovered or exhumed elsewhere in West Java.

This archive does not present all nine deaths as if they were established by the same final judgment. The Bekasi prosecution specifically adjudicated the planned murders of Ai Maimunah, Ridwan Abdul Muiz and Muhammad Riswandi. Other deaths were part of the broader police investigation and may involve different evidentiary records, alleged participants and procedural outcomes.

The Bekasi trial

Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Wowon, Solihin and Dede under Indonesia's premeditated-murder provisions. On November 1, 2023, the Bekasi District Court convicted all three in the planned killing of the three Bekasi victims and sentenced each defendant to life imprisonment.

The court did not grant the prosecution's request for death sentences. Reporting on the judgment said the defendants' admissions and remorse were among the factors considered in sentencing.

Appeal: life sentences upheld

The prosecution appealed. On December 20, 2023, the Bandung High Court upheld the Bekasi District Court judgment and left the three life sentences in place. Detik reported the appellate ruling on December 22, quoting the court's order affirming case No. 250/Pid.B/2023/PN Bks.

I did not locate, during this review, a later Supreme Court ruling that changes those appellate sentences. The defensible current statement is therefore that the life terms imposed in Bekasi were upheld on appeal.

Why this remains a partial case file

The existence of convictions does not automatically make every part of a serial-murder investigation fully resolved. Police linked the group to additional deaths and continued searching for possible fraud victims after the initial arrests. Some of those deaths were investigated separately from the three-victim Bekasi prosecution.

For that reason, Crime by Region classifies the broader Wowon–Duloh serial murder case as Partially adjudicated: the central Bekasi triple murder produced convictions and appellate sentences, but the wider universe of police-linked deaths should not be collapsed into a single, overbroad statement of final criminal responsibility.

Timeline

Current status

The murders of Ai Maimunah, Ridwan Abdul Muiz and Muhammad Riswandi are adjudicated, with life sentences upheld on appeal for Wowon Erawan, Solihin and M. Dede Solehudin. The broader serial-murder investigation remains partial because police linked the group to additional deaths that were not all resolved through the same final proceeding.

Related Indonesia case files