JAKARTA, Indonesia – Prosecutors in Jakarta charged a notorious gang leader with murder as his trial opened Tuesday (August 28th), local media reported.

John Refra Kei is charged with the fatal stabbing of Sanex Steel president Tan Harry Tantono, 51, who was found dead in his room at the Swiss-Belhotel in Central Jakarta on January 26th. An autopsy determined he had been stabbed 32 times.

John's alleged accomplices, Joseph Hungan and Muklis B. Sahab, were also charged for their involvement in his premeditated murder.

Prosecutor Albert Napitupulu told the Central Jakarta District Court that the three defendants had threatened to kill the victim several times. The killing, he said, was motivated by a purported business dispute between John and Tan, after the latter apparently rejected John's request for ownership of some Sanex Steel shares.

Five other suspects in the murder – all considered John's protégés – are standing trial as well.