Bali cop widow breaks her silence — ‘I will never forgive them’

THE widow of the dead Bali cop says she’ll never forgive Sara Connor and her boyfriend for their alleged roles in his death as she reveals what David Taylor wrote to her.

BALI widow Ketut Arsini says she will never forgive Australian woman Sara Connor and her British boyfriend David Taylor for their alleged roles in the death of her policeman husband Wayan Sudarsa.

When she first received a letter of apology from Taylor Ms Arsini says she was so overcome by anger and emotion she wanted to rip it up without even reading it.

But she forced herself to take a deep breath and read the document, telling her that his alleged role in her husband’s death on a Bali beach would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Wayan Sudarsa's wife Ketut Arsini and her two sons Putu Yudi and Kadek Toni in their home in Jimbaran, Bali. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro

Ms Arsini, whose eyes hold a deep sadness, told News Corporation how her heart is broken at losing her husband of 31 years and of her emotions at learning that the man accused of killing him had written her an apology.

But the softly spoken schoolteacher is adamant.

“I will never forgive them”, she says of Taylor, 34, and Byron Bay mum Connor, 45, who are

accused of murdering Wayan Sudarsa in the early hours of August 17 this year.

The couple are due to go on trial in the Denpasar District Court on Wednesday.

Ms Arsini showed News Corporation the one page handwritten letter which she received from Taylor one month after her husband’s bloodied body was found on a Kuta beach during a night shift.

The letter of apology from David Taylor sent to Wayan Sudarsa's family in Jimbaran, Bali. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro

Taylor begins by telling the grieving widow he know she will be shocked and angry to hear from him but he hopes she can find it in her heart to read the letter from his heart.

“It has taken me a long time to find the courage and strength to write these words and I’m still not sure which words I will use,” Taylor says.

“I never thought in my life that I would be anywhere close to such a horrific situation as this. I have been waking up crying every morning for many days now, but I cannot imagine the pain and suffering that you and your family must be feeling in this time. I really cannot believe that my terrible actions may have contributed to the taking of another life.”

He goes on: “I will never throughout the rest of my days come to terms with this and it will haunt me until I myself am taken from this life. There is nothing more precious in our lifetime than another human life that we love and care for.

“I cannot begin to tell you how truly deeply sorry I am for my involvement in this terrible act. I am by no means attempting to explain my actions or ask for your forgiveness. Please just see this as an apology to your whole family from the bottom of my heart.”

Ketut Arsini said she will never forgive the pair for their alleged role in the death of her husband. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro

At her home in Jimbaran, her two sons by her side and her husband’s beloved chickens and birds crowing and tweeting around her, Ms Arsini tells of her emotions on the day the letter from Taylor was delivered to her.

“I was angry and emotional. I just wanted to rip it up and I tried to be strong to open the letter and read it. I was not crying but angry, very angry, like I couldn’t take a breath,” she tells.

Ms Arsini says she will be in the Denpasar District Court on Wednesday when the trials of Taylor and Connor begin.

It will be difficult, she says, but she will try to control her emotions.

The family just wants the court process to be finalised and has no view on what punishment, if the pair is found guilty, would be appropriate, saying they leave it to the criminal justice system to decide.

Ms Arsini now worries how she will support her two sons — Putu Yudi, 30 and Kadek Toni, 23, who is still at university, in a society where there is no such thing as social security or assistance.

Byron Bay woman Sara Connor pictured inside Kerobokan Jail with her boyfriend David Taylor walking back to the cells after visiting time. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro

Putu is a younger version of his father and says that when he read Taylor’s letter he was not moved. Their father’s loss is keenly felt by the two young men who now support their mother.

A portrait of the officer, in his police uniform, hangs on the lounge room wall.

The family says they have so far heard nothing from two groups who had run crowd-funding campaigns to raise money for the family in the wake of the beach death — one a charity in Bali run by expatriates and the other a crowd-funding campaign set up originally by Sara Connor’s Byron Bay friends.

Connor and Taylor both face three charges — murder, which carries a maximum 15 years, violence causing death and assault causing death.

Both have admitted being at the beach on the night of the killing but Connor maintains she played no role in the death of the officer, saying she was trying to break up a fight between Taylor and Sudarsa.

The fight began amid allegations that Sudarsa had stolen Connor’s handbag as she and Taylor kissed and cuddled on the beach that evening.

Taylor’s lawyer Haposan Sihombing says that all the initiative to write the letter came from Taylor himself and the letter will be tendered as evidence during the trial.