ALTHOUGH he was in Malaysia illegally, Indonesian La Ode Ardi Rasila lived and enjoyed the privileges of a local, after he obtained a fake MyKad and went by the name Ardi Hamza.
In the guise of being a Sabahan, he lived in Malaysia for over a decade with his Indonesian wife and their three young children.
After several odd-jobs, he got a job in 2012 as a security guard, that was strictly reserved for Malaysians, with exception given to ex-Nepali soldiers.
He worked at major banks as an armed guard and was entrusted to guard millions of ringgit.
A year later, having watched the movement of wads of cash daily, he decided to help himself to some of the money.
On Oct 23, 2013, then aged 36, he turned rogue while on duty as a replacement guard at an Ambank branch at Jalan USJ Sentral 2 in Subang Jaya.
At about 6pm after the bank closed for the day, La Ode confronted two bank staff who were storing the day’s takings in a vault while armed with a shotgun. One of them was 37-year-old bank officer Norazita Abu Talib.
Without a word of warning, he pointed the firearm at Norazita, aimed it at her face and pulled the trigger. The shot threw the victim to the ground and killed her instantly. La Ode then ordered Norazita’s colleague to fill a bag with cash. With almost half a million ringgit, he fled on a motorcycle.
A massive police hunt was then launched, with all exit points nationwide closely guarded in case La Ode made a cross-border escape.
As days passed, several people were picked up for questioning and police recovered RM20,000 La Ode had left with a family member he briefly met before going into hiding.
Almost three weeks later, the fugitive was traced and arrested at Kampung Belungkor, Kota Tinggi in Johor on Nov 10, 2013.
Police learnt that the killer had been constantly on the move and hid at vacant and abandoned buildings until his capture.
He led police to a ravine, near the bank where he had dumped the shotgun he used to kill Norazita but he never revealed where he hid the bulk of the stolen cash. A week later, he was charged with robbery and Norazita’s murder.
On Aug 14, 2014, La Ode was sentenced to death after the Shah Alam High Court found him guilty of murder. His final appeal against the sentence was dismissed by the Federal Court in February, 2016.
