Munawar Toha, the man who was seen pushing his dead wife’s corpse and car into a Florida lake six years ago, will see his case played out on ID’s See No Evil . As always, See No Evil will provide compelling video footage that was instrumental in solving the crime. Munawar Toha was found guilty of murdering Surya ‘Sari’ Toha, a 41-year-old mother of two who vanished after taking her kids to their elementary school.
The case made international headlines when shocking video footage emerged of Munawar Toha pushing his missing wife’s car into a lake. On tonight’s Investigation Discovery true-crime documentary, detectives who investigated the case will offer their commentary on the episode, titled “Driven To The Edge.”
Deputy cuffs Munawar Toha after guilty verdict 1st-dgr murder of his wife-pic by Carline Jean http://t.co/5C6ALOqI09 pic.twitter.com/rS182jY15y
— Joe Cavaretta (@PhotoSSentinel) October 22, 2014
Surya Toha, also known as Surya Sari Prihatin-Toha, disappeared on the morning of March, 2010, after dropping off her two boys, ages 5 and 9, to school. After that, she was not seen or heard from again. Her husband, 65-year-old Munawar Toha, told police that he had not seen his wife since the morning before, and that all calls to her cell phone went unanswered.
From the beginning of the police investigation, Florida detectives found it odd that Munawar Toha had not called the police to report his wife missing until the next day. They also noted that he didn’t seem to behave like a person who was really distraught over his wife’s disappearance. He did put on a good act while being interviewed for a news broadcast about the missing mother, where he cried and stated that the children missed their mother and were asking where she was.
It took two weeks before police located Surya “Sari” Toha’s body 30 feet underwater at Crystal Lake, located on Powerline Road. Detectives stated in a press conference that they had a hunch to look behind the lake where Munawar Toha worked. To their surprise, footage captured by a nearby warehouse caught Sari’s husband on video, driving her vehicle into the parking lot, getting a bike out of the car, then driving the car through the fence before getting out and pushing the car into the lake.
Video footage also captured Munawar Toha riding away on a bicycle. He was later arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, according to 6 South Florida-News .
An autopsy report concluded that Surya Toha was most likely attacked in her kitchen at their Coral Springs home, and struck several times with a blunt object. She could have also been suffocated. After the killing, Munawar Toha transported the body to the garage and placed it in the back of the trunk before driving it to Crystal Lake. The day before, Surya “Sari” Toha was seen with her husband at a bank, where she took out $5,000, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
At trial, prosecutors alleged that Munawar had planned to benefit from the life insurance policy on his wife that totaled $150,000. A jury had a chance to see the video footage and a recording of Munawar Toha speaking with a hit man as he tried to arrange the death of several witnesses who could testify against him. The hit man was actually a cop.
Records show that Munawar and Surya “Sari” Toha married in 2000, and were married for 10 years before she was killed. Friends say that the marriage was not a happy one, and that Sari always felt that Munawar was trying to control her every move. Despite the problems in the marriage, she was a good wife and loving mother, a friend told the Jakarta Globe.
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“I know for sure that Sari [the victim] was a good wife and a loving mother. There was no other man in her life but her husband.”
Surya Toha’s body was flown back to her native country of Jakarta, Indonesia, for burial.
Indonesia means Indian Island, which is derived from both Greek and Latin words. Jakarta is known for its large population and massive traffic jams.
Go deep inside the case tonight with See No Evil on Investigation Discovery (ID) at 10 p.m., 9 p.m. central. For extra reading, look at the case of Michelle Le , a missing nurse who was later found dead.
Press Conference Coverage For Surya Toha
[Image via YouTube ]