Key Witness in Corruption Case Dies After LA Standoff

A man who killed himself during an armed Los Angeles standoff last week was an important witness in a sweeping corruption investigation in Indonesia. Johannes Marliem, 32, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Sunday. A spokesman for the Corruption Eradication Commission in Indonesia told the Jakarta Post that Marliem died in the US, but he said he didn't have details. Indonesian police allege that a network of about 80 people, mostly politicians, and several companies used the introduction of a $440 million electronic ID to steal more than a third of the allotted funds. Marliem was a key witness in the case.

Los Angeles SWAT officers found Marliem's body inside his home around 2am Thursday after he held police at bay for more than nine hours. A woman and child left the house unharmed after the standoff began Wednesday evening. Police didn't confirm whether they were Marliem's wife and child. Marliem was the director of Biomorf Lone, a US-based company that had been awarded the project to procure an automated fingerprint system for the electronic identity program. The corruption scandal engulfed the speaker of Indonesia's Parliament, once hailed by President Trump as one of Indonesia's most powerful men. (More Indonesia stories.)