A former police officer, who had been reported missing on the 23rd, has been arrested on charges of murdering his wife at her residence, despite a restraining order issued against him due to domestic violence.
The Seogwipo Police Station in Jeju announced today (the 25th) that they apprehended the suspect, a former police officer and the victim's husband in his 50s identified as B, at a location in Gyeonggi Province at around 0:30 AM on charges of murdering his wife, a woman in her 50s identified as A.
B is accused of killing his wife A with a weapon at her home in Namwon-eup, Seogwipo.
A was found dead with bleeding at her residence at 7:00 PM the previous day.
Upon discovering the deceased A, the police immediately initiated an investigation to track down B's whereabouts, reviewing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage around the crime scene.
According to the police investigation, B, who currently resides in Seoul, was reported missing to the Seoul Jungnang Police Station by other family members on the afternoon of the 23rd.
The reporter told the police that B had disappeared after leaving a note indicating that he wanted to die.
Accordingly, the police requested cooperation from the Guri Police Station under the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency—having jurisdiction over a location in Gyeonggi Province frequently visited by B—and on the morning of the 24th, also requested search cooperation from the Seogwipo Police Station in Seogwipo, where his wife A, with whom he was undergoing divorce proceedings, was located.
A police official stated, "Immediately after the search cooperation request was received at around 8:22 AM on the 24th, officers from the jurisdiction's patrol box visited A's home, rang the doorbell, and sounded the police car siren, but there was no response from inside." The official added, "Later in the afternoon, when patrol officers revisited the house, they noticed a broken window, searched the interior, and found A dead."
The police estimate that B left a note at his residence in Seoul on the 21st, traveled to Jeju on the 22nd, and committed the crime between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM on the 23rd.
They explained that the missing person report for B was filed at 1:52 PM on the 23rd, which was after the estimated time of the crime.
However, despite B having been issued a restraining order starting last March through August of next year prohibiting him from approaching A's residence in Seogwipo due to domestic violence, the police requested search cooperation from the Seogwipo Police Station only on the morning of the 24th—more than 18 hours after the missing person report was filed.
This highlights a regrettable lack of prompt police response to the missing person report.
Critics also point out that the failure to quickly identify the restraining order may have stemmed from divided jurisdictions, as missing person cases are handled by the detective division while residential restraining orders are managed by the women and youth division.
Amid growing public criticism over initial responses to missing persons following the false closure of long-term missing persons cases in Jeju, such as Jang Mi-ran (37), it is reported that the police failed to track B's whereabouts or travel route while he was fleeing after the crime.
Investigations revealed that B served as a police officer in Jeju for about a year before resigning, after which he moved his residence to Seoul and lived separately from his wife.
The police believe B committed the crime out of resentment while undergoing divorce proceedings, and plan to transfer him to Jeju to investigate the exact motive behind the crime.
B is reportedly not denying the allegations.
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