Wayan Mirna Salihin, 27, was newly married to Arief Soemarko when she dropped dead in a coffee shop in Jakarta.
Her death followed a catch-up coffee with friends she met while studying in Australia: a woman known as Jessica Kumala and another known as Hani.
It was Jessica Kumala who allegedly ordered and paid for the iced coffee that was later discovered to be laced with cyanide by investigators.
After only a single sip of the beverage, Mirna Salihan dropped to the floor and began convulsing. She was confirmed dead in hospital a short time later.
On Saturday morning, Jakarta police arrested Jessica Kumala for the murder.
Multiple motives have been put forward for the crime, including the suggestion that Kumala was having an affair with Mirna Salihan’s new husband.
These reports have been denied by Kumala’s uncle and lawyer, Yudi Wibowo, who claims Kumala has a boyfriend overseas.
Wibowo has also called for a second autopsy in a different hospital, after the first found cyanide in the victim’s body and declared poisoning the cause of death.
He claims it would be impossible for the victim to have died from cyanide poisoning, as her friend Hani also drank from the allegedly poisoned cup.
“[Jessica] is not afraid. She is tough because she has done nothing wrong in relation to the case,” Wibowo says of his client.
