Paju Cold Storage Murder Suspect Locked Victim Inside, Found to Have Over 1 Billion Won in Debt

[Anchor]

It has been revealed that the suspect in the Paju cold storage murder case locked the storage door from the outside with a padlock. Police have also confirmed that the suspect is burdened with more than 1 billion won in debt.

Here is the report by reporter Je Hui-won.

[Reporter]

Police have captured circumstances showing that in the morning of September 3, the suspect in his 30s, surnamed Shin, entered a cold storage facility with a woman in her 60s, came out alone, and locked the door from the outside with a padlock.

Police believe that Shin, who was suffering from more than 1 billion won in debt, attempted a cash transaction by passing off forged department store gift certificates worth tens of billions of won—which were being kept in the cold storage—as genuine, but the deal failed.

Police are verifying the credibility of Shin's statements while investigating whether the murder was planned from the beginning.

This is because Shin's statements have continuously changed. Initially, regarding the reason for installing the cold storage, Shin stated, "I intended to confine her if the forgery was discovered," but later changed the statements to, "I intended to release the victim once the deposit for the gift certificates was confirmed," and "I installed it thinking she would just look around roughly and leave because it was cold."

Police also confirmed that following the crime, the victim's mobile phone was repeatedly turned on and off in nearby Goyang and other areas, and believe this was done by Shin to throw the investigation into confusion.

The man who drove the victim to Paju and arranged the meeting with Shin reportedly stated during police questioning that he played a role in brokering and verifying the gift store certificate transaction.

Police, who previously booked the man on charges related to gift certificate forgery, are also investigating whether he was complicit in the murder.

Additionally, police have identified a third man who was with the two at the time of Shin's arrest and are investigating whether there was any collusion.

Police plan to continue their investigation into the exact motive and the scale of accomplices until Shin is handed over to the prosecution on the 14th.

(Video footage by: Kim Nam-sung | Video editing by: Kim Ho-jin | Design by: Seo Seung-hyun)

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