A 35-year-old San Francisco native, Arthur Leigh Welohr, has been taken into custody in Indonesia on allegations surrounding the beheading of his father-in-law.
This incident reportedly took place on September 24 in Banjar City, West Java.
Welohr and his father-in-law, Agus Sopiyan, 58, were said to have been engaged in a business partnership. Challenges faced by their business venture allegedly heightened tensions between the two.
Locals nearby Welohr’s residence heard a heated discussion between the pair but initially perceived it as a benign dispute. The narrative changed drastically when Welohr is believed to have assaulted Sopiyan using a knife, severing his head from his neck.
Following the incident, video footage emerged which displayed grave injuries inflicted upon Sopiyan. Quick thinking by the local community members led to the detention of Welohr until the police arrived to formally arrest him.
The police later discovered Sopiyan’s beheaded remains behind his home. Offering insight into the rapid escalation of the altercation, Rizal, a local resident, said that many in the community had initially thought the disagreement was nothing out of the ordinary.
Nandi Darmawan, Banjar Police’s Adjunct Inspector, said that more specifics of the investigation would be disclosed to the public upon its completion. Another statement from Banjar Police, provided by Ali Jupri, suggested that Welohr believed his father-in-law was negatively affecting his marriage. Furthermore, he apparently felt endangered, which might have been a contributing factor to the disagreement. Previously, Welohr had had confrontations with Sopiyan and had allegedly even vandalized his house.
Welohr is now facing legal consequences under Article 338 of Indonesia’s Penal Code. This specific code could result in up to 15 years of imprisonment for committing manslaughter. A related piece of history concerning Welohr is an incident from 2015. In San Francisco, he was accused of a sword attack on two individuals. He was charged with attempted murder at the time, but the final outcome of that case is yet to be confirmed.
