Former Police Officer Arrested for Murdering Wife in Jeju

A former police officer has been arrested for murdering his wife in her 50s in Jeju.

The Seogwipo Police Station in Jeju announced that they arrested the suspect, identified as A, a former police officer and the victim's husband, at a lodging establishment in Gyeonggi Province at around 12:30 AM today (the 25th) on charges of murdering a woman in her 50s.

The woman was found dead with fatal wounds at her home in Seogwipo, Jeju, at around 7:00 PM yesterday, and her husband, A, is accused of murdering her with a weapon.

Immediately after discovering the dead woman, the police tracked down A's whereabouts, checked nearby CCTV footage, and conducted an investigation.

According to the police investigation, A, who currently resides in Seoul, had been reported missing to the Jungnang Police Station in Seoul by another family member on the 22nd.

The reporter told the police that A had disappeared after leaving a note saying he wanted to die and asked them to locate him.

The police requested cooperation from police stations in the northern Gyeonggi region, where A frequently went, and on the 24th, they also requested a search cooperation from the police station in Seogwipo, where his wife—with whom he was going through a divorce—lived.

A police official stated, "Immediately after the search cooperation request came in at around 8:00 AM on the 24th, officers from the local box went to the woman's house, pressed the doorbell, and sounded the police car siren, but there was no response from inside." The official added, "Later in the afternoon, when the officers visited the house again, they saw a broken window, searched the interior, and found the woman dead."

Investigations revealed that A worked as a police officer in Jeju for about six years before retiring, and moved his residence to Seoul last year, living separately from his wife.

A is reportedly not denying the crime. The police believe he committed the crime out of resentment while going through a divorce, and plan to escort A back to Jeju to investigate the exact motive behind the crime.

Critics point out that the tragedy might have been prevented if the police had taken proactive measures, such as an early search cooperation, considering the possibility that the wife going through a divorce could become a target of a crime.

(Reported by Kim Taewon, Video by Hong Jin-young, Design by Yang Hye-min, Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.