Suspect Locked Freezer from Outside After Failed Cash Deal

[Anchor]

It has been revealed that the suspect in the Paju frozen warehouse murder case lured a woman in her 60s into the freezer and locked it with a padlock from the outside. Investigators found that the suspect is in debt of more than 1 billion won.

Reporter Je Hui-won has the details.

[Reporter]

Police have captured circumstances showing that on the morning of the 3rd, the suspect in his 30s, surnamed Shin, entered a frozen warehouse with a woman in his 60s, came out alone, and locked the door from the outside with a padlock.

Police believe that Shin, who carried over 1 billion won in debt, attempted to pass off counterfeit department store gift certificates worth around 50 billion won stored in the warehouse as genuine in a cash transaction, which ultimately failed.

Investigators are verifying the credibility of Shin's statements while probing whether the murder was premeditated from the beginning.

This comes as Shin's statements kept changing during the early stages of the investigation. Regarding why he installed the freezer, he initially stated, "I intended to confine her if the forgery was discovered," but later changed his story to claim, "I meant to release the victim once the deposit for the gift certificates was confirmed," and "I installed it thinking she would just take a quick look and leave because it was cold."

Police also confirmed that following the crime, the victim's cell phone was turned on and off multiple times in nearby Goyang and other areas, which they suspect was a tactic by Shin to disrupt the investigation.

The man who drove the victim to Paju and arranged her meeting with Shin reportedly stated during police questioning that his role was to broker and verify the gift certificate transaction.

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

Additionally, authorities have identified a third man who was with the two at the time of Shin's arrest and are investigating whether he conspired in the crime.

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

(Video Reporter: Kim Nam-sung | Video Editing: Kim Ho-jin | Design: Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.