'Kim Sung-woo, Who Murdered Mother-in-Law, Indicted for Retaliatory Murder'

A public service worker accused of murdering his mother-in-law and kidnapping his wife in Songpa-gu, Seoul, has been formally indicted while in custody.

The Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Eastern Prosecutors' Office indicted Kim Sung-woo (26) today (November 6) on charges including retaliatory murder under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes.

Prosecutors also requested an order to attach an electronic location tracking device (electronic anklet).

The prosecutors stated that they clarified the motive by confirming circumstances such as Kim harboring a grudge after sending a message apologizing to his wife, surnamed A, and learning that she had reported domestic violence to investigative authorities. They also secured additional evidence, including CCTV footage from immediately before the crime.

Kim is accused of visiting his wife's family home in Songpa-gu with a weapon at around 5:35 a.m. on October 11, stabbing his mother-in-law in her 50s multiple times to death, forcibly placing wife A into a vehicle, and driving to a wooded area in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, where he confined her.

The mother-in-law was transported to a hospital in a state of cardiac arrest and later died.

Wife A suffered abrasions after being assaulted in the face inside the vehicle by Kim, who was carrying an awl, but was safely rescued.

Kim stalked A by waiting near her family's residence a total of 18 times from September 16 to October 11.

The stalking also took place nine times between August 22 and September 30, a period when the Seoul Western District Court had issued a temporary restraining order.

In cooperation with the police, prosecutors additionally secured evidence including investigations into private detective agency employees, internet search history, messages, and the results of the prosecutors' integrated psychological analysis.

According to the prosecutors, Kim hired a private detective agency on September 2 to locate A's residence and tracked her movements starting on September 16 by having agency employees or joining them to watch family members around the victim's residence.

Circumstances indicating that he pre-checked the personal information of his mother-in-law through internet searches were also confirmed.

On September 21, he purchased a fruit knife—the weapon used in the crime—at a store near the victim's residence and kept it with him until the time of the crime.

The prosecutors explained that they additionally secured footage showing the moments right before the crime that were not captured on existing CCTV cameras, confirming that Kim approached the mother-in-law and immediately swung the fruit knife without any altercations or arguments with A.

A separate rape case involving Kim, which was transferred from the Suwon Gwonseon Police Station to the Suwon Prosecutors' Office, was also transferred to the Seoul Eastern Prosecutors' Office today and is currently under review.

Kim is accused of having sexual relations with A without her consent and inflicting injury at a residence in Suwon in November of last year, before their marriage.

He was also investigated for filming parts of the crime.

Following the police transfer on October 20, prosecutors met with the victim's bereaved family to arrange timely support, including housing assistance.

The prosecutors stated, "We will do our best in maintaining the prosecution so that a severe sentence commensurate with the crime is handed down, and we will respond sternly to violent crimes that threaten public safety."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.