Jakarta. Second Patrolman Richard Eliezer received thankful appreciation from the wife of disgraced former police general Ferdy Sambo after he shot fellow police officer Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat to death, the court heard on Tuesday.

Ferdy is the alleged mastermind of the July 8 murder in which an unarmed Yosua was shot multiple times for allegedly having harassed Ferdy’s wife Putri Candrawathi.

"Putri, the wife of Ferdy Sambo, said thank you to Richard Eliezer according to accounts from witnesses Ricky Rizal and Kuat Ma'ruf," according to the indictment read out by prosecutors in the opening murder trial against Richard.

All the five persons are the defendants in the murder case being tried separately by the South Jakarta District Court.

Richard received Rp 1 billion in cash from Ferdy two days after the murder, the indictment says. However, Ferdy later took the money back from Richard with a promise to repay the shooter in August “when the situation is safe”, prosecutors said.

Ricky and Kuat were paid Rp 500 million each as all the five defendants gathered at Ferdy’s house in Jakarta on July 10.

The couple also handed Richard and Kuat iPhone 13 Pro Max cellphones.

"Putri and Ferdy described the gifts as an expression of gratitude because defendants Richard, Ricky, and Kuat got involved in the murder of Yosua," the indictment says

Prosecutors said the murder was carefully planned with the victim, the alleged shooter, Putri, Ricky, and Kuat were instructed to stay at Ferdy’s official residence in South Jakarta to ‘self-isolate’ upon arrival from a trip to the Central Java town of Magelang -- hours before Yosua was killed.

Ricky and Kuat were involved in the murder plot and stood guard as they witnessed the execution-styled murder inside Ferdy’s official residence, according to police investigation.