A to Z: "Everything Was Planned"... Targeting Billions, "Let's Make Her Disappear"

He had no intention to kill, and broker A, who mediated the department store gift certificate transaction, also knew about the forgery. This was the claim made by 39-year-old Shin, the suspect in the Paju frozen warehouse murder case, during police questioning.

However, the prosecution, which took over the case in mid-September, secured a call recording file from a forensic analysis of Shin's smartphone containing a conversation with a third party where Shin discussed plotting the crime even before meeting broker A.

The content revealed that Shin planned to murder the person who came to check the forged department store gift certificates and make them disappear along with the certificates, thereby extorting billions of won in penalties from the buyer side.

The prosecution concluded that the crime was entirely premeditated, pointing to the 50 billion won worth of forged department store gift certificates prepared a month in prior, the large frozen warehouse installed a week before, and the request made a day prior demanding an elderly woman be sent to verify the certificates.

Shin, who had accumulated over 1 billion won in debt while running a large cafe, intended to pocket the transaction proceeds if the deal went through without the forgery being detected, but placed even more focus on a contingency plan in case it was discovered.

Consequently, the victim, an elderly woman who had no idea it was a planned crime and believed she only needed to verify the gift certificates, was locked inside a -25°C (-13°F) frozen warehouse for 27 hours and found dead.

The prosecution concluded that Shin acted alone, stating that the individuals identified by Shin as accomplices during police questioning were unaware of the forged gift certificates or the murder plot.

The prosecution indicted Shin in custody on October 1, applying charges including the murder of an abducted person, as well as the forgery and uttering of securities.

"Send an Elderly Woman"... Meticulous Plot in "Frozen Warehouse Murder" (October 1, 2026, 8 News)

Reported by Yu Su-hwan | Produced by Bae Jun-hwi | Video by Kim Ho-jin | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.