Gay Serial Killer Sentenced to Death

DEPOK, West Java ~ A self-confessed serial killer who recorded a pop album and wrote a grisly tell-all book from his prison cell was sentenced to death on Monday for the murder of a romantic rival.

The Depok District Court found Verry Idham Henyansyah, known popularly as Ryan, guilty of murdering and dismembering Herry Santoso and dumping of his body in bags on a Jakarta roadside last year.

Wearing a white robe and a Muslim skullcup, Henyansyah sang to reporters before entering the courtroom. The song, called Please Understand, Beloved, was penned for his boyfriend, he said.

“I am ready for any sentence,” he said, tearily hugging his parents.

Santoso was found cut into seven pieces in a murder 31-year-old Henyansyah described as motivated by jealousy, after Santoso offered him a car and money in return for sex with his boyfriend.

The murder is the first of 11 killings confessed to by Henyansyah to go to trial.

Another 10 bodies, including a mother and her young child, were uncovered in his parents’ backyard in East Java after his arrest in July last year.

“(Henyansyah’s) acts were sadistic and inhuman and caused deep sadness to the victims’ families and anxiety in the community. His acts show he does not value life, which is given by God,” chief judge Suwidya said.

Henyansyah, a former Koran recital teacher and would-be model, has shot to notoriety in Indonesia. A steady stream of visitors, many of them teenage girls, have taken photos with him in his court holding cell.

He released an autobiography titled The Untold Story of Ryan in February and plans to release a 12-song pop album, My Last Performance, this month.

Defense lawyer Rusdi Ismael said Henyansyah would appeal against the death sentence.