Latest news with #7NewsSpotlight
New York Post
8 hours ago
- New York Post
‘Iced coffee killer' breaks silence 8 years after she's convicted of poisoning her best friend's drink
Indonesian convicted murderer and Australian permanent resident Jessica Kumala Wongso has appeared in a shocking new documentary. In it, she was dubbed the 'smiling iced coffee killer' and accused of 'brazenly' murdering her friend and fellow Indonesian Wayan Mirna Salihin in a glitzy cafe in Jakarta in 2016. Advertisement The new documentary entitled 'Chilling interview: Why Jessica Wongso murdered her best friend with poisoned coffee' aired on 7News Spotlight and has already racked up over two million views. According to the documentary, Wongso, who is currently on parole, 'still hasn't got her story straight' – despite having spent eight years in an Indonesian prison for the murder. Wongso was found guilty in 2016 by a Jakarta court of adding cyanide to an iced Vietnamese coffee that she bought for her friend Salihin, causing her to collapse and convulse in front of horrified patrons at the cafe. 8 Convicted murderer Jessica Kumala Wongso appeared in a new documentary about her infamous 2016 case where she poisoned a friend in a coffee shop in Indonesia. 7 News Spotlight Advertisement Salihin, who was just 27-years-old, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead, and the Indonesian prosecution alleged that Wongso, who had previously studied at the Billy Blue College of Design in Sydney with Salihin, had been jealous of her friend who had just got married. Wongso has always denied the charges against her, and pleaded innocent at her trial, before she was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She was released on parole last year having served just eight years of her sentence – and is currently filing a final appeal in a last-ditch bid to clear her name. 8 Wongso was found guilty of giving Wayan Mirna Salihin a coffee laced with cyanide in a Jakarta cafe. 7 News Spotlight Advertisement During the 44 minute sit-down, Spotlight journalist Liam Bartlett asked Wongso a series of tough questions about the murder, appearing both disappointed and shocked by some of her answers, including that Wongso and Salihin 'were not close at all' and were only acquaintances because they 'came from the same country.' Simon Butt, a professor of Indonesian law at the University of Sydney, told that the language used in the interview and its largely unsympathetic portrayal of Wongso was likely due to her ongoing legal status as a convicted murderer. 'Of course, legally, a program like this can proceed on the assumption that she was guilty of the murder. She was found to be so by successive Indonesian courts,' he said. 8 Surveillance footage from the coffee shop in 2016. 7 News Spotlight Advertisement 8 Prosecutors in Indonesia claimed that Wongso poisoned her friend because she was jealous of her recently getting married. 7 News Spotlight Yet he added that the documentary had a missed opportunity to shed greater light on her case, which gripped Indonesia back in 2016 and prompted widespread speculation by the public about Wongso's possible guilt or innocence. 'The intriguing part of her story is that, despite her conviction, there remains very strong doubts about whether she did in fact kill her friend,' Butt said. Butt argued that the Spotlight interview did not fully explain some of the nuances of Wongso's case. 'The program was one-sided, swallowing the very problematic decision, and appeals, whole. 'The program did not mention very problematic aspects of her conviction, including that no autopsy was conducted and there were serious problems with the handling of the coffee sample from the cafe. 'There was no cyanide found at the scene. Whether Salihin died of cyanide poisoning, and even whether the coffee itself had cyanide in it was, in my view, never established beyond reasonable doubt.' Advertisement Butt added that, as Wongso's defense lawyers continually stated, Sahilin could have died of natural causes, but the lack of a full and comprehensive autopsy means that this has never been fully established. 'These issues were not pursued in the program,' he added. 'That said, Wongso didn't help herself by agreeing to the interview before her final appeal has been concluded.' Under Indonesian law, a judicial review is usually only successful if there is compelling new evidence presented in a case that was not previously heard at the original trial. Advertisement Another one of the main issues with the Spotlight interview was the fact that Wongso repeatedly refused to answer or elaborate on questions put to her by Bartlett – and did not appear to emphatically deny guilt. 8 Wongso appearing in Central Jakarta District Court for her trial on Oct. 5, 2016. AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana Butt said however that Wongso told Bartlett that she could not protest her innocence as she remains on parole until 2032. 'If she did that, her parole might be revoked. Yet the journalist continually asked her to explain the way she acted and reacted at various times, including during her trial, and obviously drew implications from her failure to defend herself in her answers,' Butt said. Advertisement 'He put her in an impossible situation, over and over, asking her questions that an innocent person would be able to answer, and then appearing suspicious that her responses were strange or evasive.' 8 Wongso surrounded by her lawyers at her sentencing on Oct. 27, 2016. AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana One example was when Wongso was asked why she contacted Salihn's sister with a press story about the coffee poisoning and asked about the results of toxicology tests. 'He obviously thought this was somehow suspicious,' Butt said. Advertisement 'But if she did kill Salihin, one would not expect her to reveal the way she did it, especially considering police did not initially treat it as a murder. She could not make these points in the interview because she could not claim innocence.' A spokesperson for Spotlight told that they refute Butt's claims and added their interview was fair and balanced. 8 An Indonesian legal experts claimed that the lack of an autopsy has cast doubt on Wongso's conviction. 7 News Spotlight 'While we respect Professor Butt's right to an opinion, he appears to have confused our program with the Netflix documentary,' a spokesperon said. 'Our interview with convicted killer Jessica Wongso was thorough, comprehensive, and entirely balanced – covering all key aspects of the case. 'Jessica agreed to the interview on the advice of her own legal team, and we offered her lawyer to remain in the room for the duration of questioning. 'On no occasion did Jessica complain or indicate in any way, either during or following the interview, that we had placed her, as the Professor puts it, in an 'impossible situation.'' 8 Wongso is currently out on parole. 7 News Spotlight Ranto Sibarani, a lawyer based in the city of Medan in Indonesia, said that people needed to look at the facts of the case rather than conjecture. 'It is quite clear based on the evidence and the verdict of the three judges that Jessica was found guilty of murdering Mirna using cyanide,' Sibarani said. 'She has also shown herself to be extremely clever, as no one has been able to find the cyanide that she used, or the trousers that she was wearing at the time, which she admitted she threw away. 'Many people were suspicious of Wongso rubbing her hands on her trousers after Salihin collapsed in the coffee shop, all of which was caught on CCTV. 'Some suspected that cyanide residue on her hands was causing them to itch although, in the new documentary, Wongso denied this. 'She said instead that she had asked her helper to throw the trousers away as they had a rip in them which could not be repaired.' Talking of the new documentary, Sibarani said that he would never advise a client to speak to the media before all their legal appeals were exhausted. 'Particularly not one where they criticized the sentence or the legal proceedings,' he said.
News.com.au
19 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Smiling coffee killer' Jessica Wongso appears in eerie new interview
Indonesian convicted murderer and Australian permanent resident Jessica Kumala Wongso has appeared in a shocking new documentary. In it, she was dubbed the 'smiling iced coffee killer' and accused of 'brazenly' murdering her friend and fellow Indonesian Wayan Mirna Salihin in a glitzy cafe in Jakarta in 2016. The new documentary entitled Chilling interview: Why Jessica Wongso murdered her best friend with poisoned coffee, aired on 7News Spotlight and has already racked up over two million views. According to the documentary, Wongso, who is currently on parole, 'still hasn't got her story straight' – despite having spent eight years in an Indonesian prison for the murder. Wongso was found guilty in 2016 by a Jakarta court of adding cyanide to an iced Vietnamese coffee that she bought for her friend Salihin, causing her to collapse and convulse in front of horrified patrons at the cafe. Salihin, who was just 27-years-old, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead, and the Indonesian prosecution alleged that Wongso, who had previously studied at the Billy Blue College of Design in Sydney with Salihin, had been jealous of her friend who had just got married. Wongso has always denied the charges against her, and pleaded innocent at her trial, before she was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She was released on parole last year having served just eight years of her sentence – and is currently filing a final appeal in a last-ditch bid to clear her name. During the 44 minute sit-down, Spotlight journalist Liam Bartlett asked Wongso a series of tough questions about the murder, appearing both disappointed and shocked by some of her answers, including that Wongso and Salihin 'were not close at all' and were only acquaintances because they 'came from the same country.' Simon Butt, a professor of Indonesian law at the University of Sydney, told that the language used in the interview and its largely unsympathetic portrayal of Wongso was likely due to her ongoing legal status as a convicted murderer. 'Of course, legally, a programme like this can proceed on the assumption that she was guilty of the murder. She was found to be so by successive Indonesian courts,' he said. Yet he added that the documentary had a missed opportunity to shed greater light on her case, which gripped Indonesia back in 2016 and prompted widespread speculation by the public about Wongso's possible guilt or innocence. 'The intriguing part of her story is that, despite her conviction, there remains very strong doubts about whether she did in fact kill her friend,' Butt said. Butt argued that the Spotlight interview did not fully explain some of the nuances of Wongso's case. 'The programme was one-sided, swallowing the very problematic decision, and appeals, whole. 'The programme did not mention very problematic aspects of her conviction, including that no autopsy was conducted and there were serious problems with the handling of the coffee sample from the cafe. 'There was no cyanide found at the scene. Whether Salihin died of cyanide poisoning, and even whether the coffee itself had cyanide in it was, in my view, never established beyond reasonable doubt.' Butt added that, as Wongso's defence lawyers continually stated, Sahilin could have died of natural causes, but the lack of a full and comprehensive autopsy means that this has never been fully established. 'These issues were not pursued in the programme,' he added. 'That said, Wongso didn't help herself by agreeing to the interview before her final appeal has been concluded.' Under Indonesian law, a judicial review is usually only successful if there is compelling new evidence presented in a case that was not previously heard at the original trial. Another one of the main issues with the Spotlight interview was the fact that Wongso repeatedly refused to answer or elaborate on questions put to her by Bartlett – and did not appear to emphatically deny guilt. Butt said however that Wongso told Bartlett that she could not protest her innocence as she remains on parole until 2032. 'If she did that, her parole might be revoked. Yet the journalist continually asked her to explain the way she acted and reacted at various times, including during her trial, and obviously drew implications from her failure to defend herself in her answers,' Butt said. 'He put her in an impossible situation, over and over, asking her questions that an innocent person would be able to answer, and then appearing suspicious that her responses were strange or evasive.' One example was when Wongso was asked why she contacted Salihn's sister with a press story about the coffee poisoning and asked about the results of toxicology tests. 'He obviously thought this was somehow suspicious,' Butt said. 'But if she did kill Salihin, one would not expect her to reveal the way she did it, especially considering police did not initially treat it as a murder. She could not make these points in the interview because she could not claim innocence.' A spokesperson for Spotlight told that they refute Butt's claims and added their interview was fair and balanced. 'While we respect Professor Butt's right to an opinion, he appears to have confused our program with the Netflix documentary,' a spokesperon said. 'Our interview with convicted killer Jessica Wongso was thorough, comprehensive, and entirely balanced – covering all key aspects of the case. 'Jessica agreed to the interview on the advice of her own legal team, and we offered her lawyer to remain in the room for the duration of questioning. 'On no occasion did Jessica complain or indicate in any way, either during or following the interview, that we had placed her, as the Professor puts it, in an 'impossible situation'.' Ranto Sibarani, a lawyer based in the city of Medan in Indonesia, said that people needed to look at the facts of the case rather than conjecture. 'It is quite clear based on the evidence and the verdict of the three judges that Jessica was found guilty of murdering Mirna using cyanide,' Mr Sibarani said. 'She has also shown herself to be extremely clever, as no one has been able to find the cyanide that she used, or the trousers that she was wearing at the time, which she admitted she threw away. 'Many people were suspicious of Wongso rubbing her hands on her trousers after Salihin collapsed in the coffee shop, all of which was caught on CCTV. 'Some suspected that cyanide residue on her hands was causing them to itch although, in the new documentary, Wongso denied this. 'She said instead that she had asked her helper to throw the trousers away as they had a rip in them which could not be repaired.' Talking of the new documentary, Sibarani said that he would never advise a client to speak to the media before all their legal appeals were exhausted. 'Particularly not one where they criticised the sentence or the legal proceedings,' he said.
Daily Mail
30-04-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Albo opens up about secret health battle that he's been struggling with in silence for the past four years
Anthony Albanese has made a shock admission about his health that he has suffered since a serious car crash four years ago. Mr Albanese was metres from his Marrickville home in Sydney 's inner-west on January 8, 2021 when he was involved in a two-car crash. The then-Opposition Leader was driving his Toyota Camry when a 17-year-old P-plater behind the wheel of a black Range Rover veered into the wrong lane and ploughed into his car. He was treated at the scene and rushed to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with extensive injuries. The Prime Minister has revealed the crash has left him with ongoing spinal issues which he has had to manage during a five-week cross-country campaign for the federal election, which will held this Saturday. 'It took me some time to recover physically and I still have damage to my spine,' Mr Albanese told It means makes sitting in a car for long distances difficult, with his office trying their best to avoid lengthy road trips wherever possible. The Prime Minister can move more freely when on his campaign plane, which helps alleviate his back pain. Anthony Albanese was just metres from his Marrickville home when a Range Rover, driven by a 17-year-old P-plater, veered into the wrong lane and ploughed into his Toyota Camry in 2021 Mr Albanese also revealed that he was 'very lucky' to survive. 'All of a sudden, he was right in front of me and headed straight for me. I had a little millisecond to react,' Mr Albanese said. 'It was all a little bit of a blur for me afterwards... I was just very lucky I had a guardian angel up there looking after me.' Mr Albanese's car was written off due to the extensive damage. The 17-year-old driver of the Range Rover escaped uninjured and was later fined for negligent driving. Mr Albanese had been dating his now fiancce Jodie Haydon for barely a year at the time. 'When I got to the accident and I saw the car before I saw Anthony, and I remember thinking at the time, 'this can't end well',' Ms Haydon told 7 News Spotlight in 2022. 'And that overwhelming sense of 'what if I lose him?' And I knew then that, yeah, I love him. And I love him deeply.' Mr Albanese's makes a final push in the remaining days of a gruelling six-week campaign before the federal election this Saturday. On Wednesday afternoon Mr Albanese gave a wide ranging speech at the National Press Club in which he touched on the failure of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Mr Albanese suggested he wanted the referendum to go ahead because he believed Australia should have the Voice - but that he didn't necessarily believe it would be successful or that the majority of Australians were on board. 'We supported a Voice To Parliament. I wanted it out of conviction. Not out of convenience,' Mr Albanese said. 'It's not easy to win a referendum in this country.' He later travelled to Perth to kick off his 72-hour pre-election blitz of the country.
Daily Mail
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jock Zonfrillo's widow confronted in new TV interview as she speaks about MasterChef Australia star's death for the first time: 'People want to know'
Jock Zonfrillo 's widow Lauren will speak out about the MasterChef Australia star's death for the first time in a candid interview on 7News Spotlight. In a preview for the interview, which is set to air on Sunday, an emotional Lauren discusses the impact Jock's death has had on her and their young children, Alfie and Isla. 'His death made headlines around he world and for the first time Lauren Zonfrillo on life after Jock,' host Liz Hayes says. Lauren then recalled her heartbreak when learning about Jock's tragic death, telling Liz: 'Just wake up, open your eyes, give me something.' 'I told him it will be ok, I've got this,' she also says, before questioning: 'Did I love him enough, did I do enough?' Liz then asks Lauren several confronting questions about Jock's death. 'People want to know why he died and how he died,' she asks an emotional Lauren. Jock, who tragically passed away on April 30, 2023, was found unresponsive in a hotel in Carlton, near Melbourne's CBD. He left behind Lauren and their two young children, five-year-old Alfie and three-year-old Isla, as well as daughters Ava and Sofia from previous marriages. At the time of Zonfrillo's death, Lauren had been in Italy and reportedly became concerned when her husband failed to keep to their usual daily schedule of telephone calls. A senior Victoria Police source told Daily Mail Australia that officers who attended Zagame's House in Carlton found Zonfrillo dead in his bed and saw no obvious signs of anything suspicious or unusual. There was no drug paraphernalia located, no one else in his room and police at the scene formed the initial view Zonfrillo had died of natural causes. Lauren has never publicly discussed Zonfrillo's cause of death and a spokeswoman for Victoria's Coroners Court told Daily Mail Australia in February that the August 2024 findings of an investigation would not be published. In the months following Jock's death, Lauren took over his Instagram account, using it as a platform to continue his legacy while sharing her journey through grief and the challenges of solo parenting. A fortnight after Zonfrillo's death his wife led about 200 mourners who gathered for a funeral at Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium at North Ryde on May 13. Among those who attended the service were celebrity chefs George Calombaris, Matt Moran, Colin Fassnidge, Manu Feildel and Shannon Bennett as well as Zonfrillo's co-stars Allen and Melissa Leong. Lauren delivered a eulogy before Zonfrillo's friend and fellow Scotsman, Jimmy Barnes, sang Amazing Grace with his daughter Mahalia. Before his death, Zonfrillo had been preparing for the launch of MasterChef's 15th season, which was set to premiere the night his body was found. He was also in the early stages of planning a new restaurant and had started working on a cookbook prior to his death. Zonfrillo and his wife, who married in 2017, had put their four-bedroom Carlton terrace up for rent ahead of a potential permanent move to Italy, where his father was born.
