Trying to Clear Debts in One Shot?... "Without Getting Blood on His Hands," Experts Point Out

The frozen warehouse murder case, what is the real story behind it?

In the SBS program "Unanswered Questions" (hereinafter referred to as "Unanswered Questions") broadcast on the 10th, the horrifying case of a woman in her 60s who was trapped in a -25°C (-13°F) frozen warehouse and died was tracked under the subtitle "Frozen False Scenario - Paju Frozen Warehouse Murder Case."

On September 4, a body was found inside a frozen container tucked away in the parking lot of a large cafe in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The body, discovered inside a frozen container set at -25°C (-13°F), was identified as a woman in her 60s, surnamed Lee, who had been reported missing the previous day.

It was revealed that the victim was confined in the frozen warehouse for 27 hours before dying, causing great shock. Afterward, a 39-year-old man surnamed Shin, who is the owner of the cafe where the frozen warehouse was located, was urgently arrested.

Shin, who first met the victim on the day of the incident, confined and abandoned her in the frozen warehouse less than an hour after meeting her. Shin claimed that the crime was accidental and that he did not know the victim would die.

Ten boxes were found alongside the victim's body in the frozen warehouse, containing counterfeit department store gift certificates with a face value of around 50 billion won. The cause of death was hypothermia, with no external injuries from assault or weapons. Shin claimed that he confined the victim out of panic after the counterfeit goods were exposed.

The victim had been doing work unrelated to gift certificates. However, the next day, the criminal Shin was apprehended at a location where the deceased's office was situated. On the day of his arrest, Shin was accompanied by three men. Among them, a man surnamed Choi was the person who had taken the victim to Paju on the day of the incident and connected her with Shin.

The victim's family reported her missing on the night of the incident. Immediately after the report, the police tracked the victim's whereabouts using her mobile phone location, but it was difficult to pinpoint Shin's cafe. After confining the victim, Shin drove around the Paju area, repeatedly turning the victim's phone on and off to manipulate its location.

The prosecutor in charge of the case explained, "Although Shin knew the victim's whereabouts, he told other investigative agencies or related parties that he did not know or that she had gone elsewhere to create confusion in the investigation. In particular, he lied specifically, claiming they had already parted ways in the morning."

The prosecutor also analyzed, "It seems Shin thought he could demand money from Choi, such as a penalty or commission for the breakdown of the transaction, under the pretext that the victim had disappeared with the gift certificates. He demanded a penalty from Choi, asking, 'How are you going to take responsibility? What are you going to do?' This suggests that a crime plan with this intent was already in his head."

The prosecution stated that it has secured Shin's search history for a pre-planned crime and a call recording file in which he explained the details of the crime to a third party. Before the incident, Choi's group was spotted moving together with the victim, and it was revealed that another member of their group had also been arrested.

Regarding this case, an expert stated, "That is not an exceptionally large amount in the gift certificate discounting market. There have been cases where as much as 230 billion won was laundered." They added, "The purpose could be legalizing funds for investment-leading room scams, romance scam organizations, or illegal gambling markets."

A professor of criminal psychology analyzed Shin's crime, saying, "He seems to have thought she was an intermediary who might not be able to report it to the police or take such action. It appears he gathered information and calmly planned it, believing that even if they scammed the people trying to buy the gift certificates, the victims would not easily report it or seek help from people around them."

Ahead of the gift certificate transaction with Shin, Choi asked to check the gift certificates, and Shin told him to send an elderly woman to verify them. In response, Choi asked the victim to act as a proxy to check the gift certificates. It was revealed that Shin told the victim to leave her mobile phone in his car, and then made a video call with Choi using his own phone to show the gift certificates.

Then, was Choi also deceived by Shin? Regarding questions about who Choi is and what his relationship with Shin is, investigative authorities left the response that they could not disclose details as the investigation is ongoing, while drawing a line by stating that Choi did not put the victim in danger knowing about Shin's criminal plan.

Shin had heavy loan debts caused by his business compared to his own assets. It turned out that he had constantly sought ways to resolve them in one sweep. With a strong desire to show off, Shin often thought that he could solve his problems in a single stroke, and it is presumed that while devising a way to dramatically break through his problems, he did not consider anyone's life within that plan.

An expert noted, "By abandoning the victim in the frozen warehouse, he caused her death without getting blood on his own hands. He probably did not view the victim as a human being, but merely as a tool or procedure to achieve his purpose," adding that targeting an elderly woman itself may have been selecting someone who could be easily subdued.

The expert continued, "I think the buyer Choi's side took on no risk. The buyer did not appear at the scene and left no room for himself to be cracked down on or arrested. They merely put the victim forward, and it is highly likely the victim went to the scene without knowing how illegal or dangerous what she was doing was," pointing out that putting forward a proxy like this is similar to the methods of criminal organizations.

In addition, the prosecution stated its judgment that the fact that large sums of gift certificates are distributed without going through official issuing outlets, and that there are people willing to buy them, indicates a supply and demand to launder money through untraceable methods—whether through voice phishing or illegal gambling—raising expectations that the full inside story of the case will be thoroughly brought to light.

(Editor Kim Hyo-jung)

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