"Thought It Was a Doll": Suspects Claim Ignorance After Body Found in Trash

[Anchor]

Police have requested arrest warrants for two suspects in connection with the discovery of a body amid a pile of trash in a residential area of Guro-gu, Seoul. While the suspects claimed they discarded the body believing it to be a doll, a resident we spoke with said a strong stench had been present.

Reporter Pyeon Gwanghyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

An alley in a residential area of Guro-gu, Seoul, on October 22.

A man is seen walking while carrying something wrapped in white plastic.

A short time later, what the man leaves next to a pile of trash turns out to be a human body.

Police investigations revealed that the body had been left unattended in an empty room on the second floor of a nearby multi-family housing unit, and that an 80-year-old landlord, identified as A, had instructed a 60-year-old acquaintance, identified as B, to dispose of it.

[Resident: They said they were fixing up that room at the end of the second floor to move someone in.]

A sanitation worker discovered the body and reported it to the police yesterday morning (October 27), leading to the emergency arrest of A and B within five hours.

During police questioning, A denied the charges, claiming he thought what was in the empty room was a doll or a mannequin rather than a body. However, it was found that A had received a call from a tenant about a foul odor roughly half a month before disposing of the body.

[Resident: It was a smell like nothing I've ever encountered in my life. That is why I called the landlord in the middle of it. I told them there was a strange smell and asked them to check it out.]

While an autopsy helped identify the deceased man, police reportedly received a preliminary opinion from the National Forensic Service stating that it is difficult to precisely determine the cause and exact time of death.

Police have requested arrest warrants for A and B on charges of instigating the abandonment of a corpse and abandoning a corpse, respectively, and are investigating the victim's whereabouts and activities prior to his death.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Camera Reporter: Yang Ji-hoon | Video Editor: Park Na-young | VJ: Lee Jun-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.