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Former HAL crewman to change plea in rape, attempted murder case

Former HAL crewman to change plea in rape, attempted murder case
A former Holland America Line room service attendant who confessed to beating, raping and trying to throw a passenger overboard is scheduled to change his 'not guilty' plea in a US federal court, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., newspaper said Ketut Pujayasa, an Indonesian citizen, was to go on trial for rape and attempted murder charges but court records indicate he is set for a change of plea on Sept. 29.

Pujayasa told authorities he had attacked a Nieuw Amsterdam passenger in her cabin on Feb. 14 when the ship was sailing off the coast of Honduras. He believed the woman had insulted him and his family earlier in the day when he tried to deliver her breakfast and she responded to his repeated knocks on the door by saying: 'Wait a minute, son of a bitch!'

The woman, a US citizen, was airlifted to a hospital in South Florida, and Pujayasa was taken into custody on board then turned over to police and the FBI when the ship returned to Port Everglades. He was held in a Broward County jail.