▲ Exterior of the Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province
Police have referred a woman in her 50s to the prosecution under arrest for poisoning her husband to death after becoming despondent over personal issues, including the earlier passing of their daughter.
The Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced yesterday (July 8) that it had referred the woman, identified as A, to the prosecution on June 22 on charges of murder.
A is accused of killing her husband, B, who was in his 60s, by mixing a chemical substance into his food at a Chinese restaurant in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, on the afternoon of May 20.
Investigators found that A arrived first at the Chinese restaurant located in the same building as the goshiwon (a small, low-cost residential facility) where the couple lived. She ordered food and secretly added a chemical substance she had brought with her before her husband arrived, and they ate the meal together.
After finishing their meal, the couple returned to their room at the goshiwon. The following morning at 8:40 a.m., a neighbor discovered A coming out of the room while vomiting and reported the situation to fire authorities and the police.
A was transported to a hospital for treatment, while her husband, B, was found dead inside the room.
A suicide note written by A was discovered in the room, expressing her remorse over the death of their daughter, who had passed away earlier, and her despair regarding her own life.
Investigations revealed that A, who lost her daughter to cancer several years ago, had been in an unstable mental state and frequently told her husband, B, that they should "die together."
Initially, based on A's statement that "I suggested we die together and my husband agreed," police considered charging her with aiding and abetting suicide.
In addition, considering her mental state, police had her admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
However, the full extent of the crime was revealed during further investigation.
After police confronted her with CCTV footage from the restaurant showing her secretly adding the chemical to her husband's food, A confessed to the murder, stating, "I committed the crime without my husband's consent."
A police official stated, "The court decided to issue an arrest warrant as there is a risk that A might attempt suicide again and her residence is unstable," adding, "It is difficult to disclose specific details such as the type of chemical used or the amount consumed by each person."
(Photo: Provided by Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, Yonhap News)
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