Holding a Grudge Over Marriage Nullification Suit? Latest on the Investigation

[Anchor]

We have a reporter stationed at the Seoul Songpa Police Station, where the suspect has been escorted. Let's go live to the scene.

Reporter Im Jihyeon, has the questioning begun?

[Reporter]

Yes, the suspect, who murdered his mother-in-law and fled to Yangyang, Gangwon Province, was escorted here at around 6:30 PM, an hour and a half ago.

[Mr. Kim / Suspect in Mother-in-Law Murder: (Do you have anything to say to the victim? Why did you flee the scene?) I will explain everything during the investigation.]

Police first located the wife at around 10:30 AM, about five hours after the incident occurred, and subsequently emergency-arrested Mr. Kim nearby at around 12:30 PM, escorting him here.

Mr. Kim reportedly parted ways with his wife midway up a mountain, telling her, "Let's each go our separate ways."

Police are intensively questioning Mr. Kim to determine whether he committed the crime out of a grudge against his wife's family during the marriage nullification lawsuit process.

They are also probing whether the motive for the crime stemmed from an investigation into habitual domestic violence, given that he committed the crime today, just a day after failing to comply with a police summons scheduled for yesterday (October 10).

[Anchor]

Protection measures were reportedly in place for the victim, so why did an incident like this happen again?

[Reporter]

Yes, police provided the wife with a personal protection smartwatch on September 2.

This preemptive measure was taken because Mr. Kim was assessed to have a high risk of reoffending. However, police investigation findings revealed that the smartwatch had been turned off continuously since September 15.

Police suspect that the smartwatch battery ran out as there were no additional charging activities.

However, police added that, separate from the possibility of reoffending, there were no visible injuries on the wife, so they did not deem securing custody of Mr. Kim to be urgent.

Nevertheless, while police were initiating procedures to extend the restraining order after it expired at the end of last month, Mr. Kim ended up committing the crime.

(Video by: In Pil-sung, Cho Chang-hyeon | Video Editing: Kim Jong-tae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.