[Anchor]

Here is the latest update on the Paju frozen warehouse murder case. It has been revealed that the frozen warehouse was installed at the cafe a week before the victim's body was discovered. Police have additionally booked a man who drove the victim to Paju, and are focusing on uncovering the connection between this incident and the gift certificates found inside the warehouse.

Reporting by Cho Min-ki.

[Reporter]

A large cargo truck passes through an alleyway carrying a giant white container.

About five hours later, the cargo truck returns empty.

On August 27, a man in his 30s surnamed Shin, the suspect in the Paju frozen warehouse murder case, brought the container-style frozen warehouse into the cafe a week before the incident occurred.

Residents said they found the sudden appearance of the frozen warehouse puzzling.

[Nearby Resident: We found it puzzling, too. It wasn't there at all. But what was the reason for bringing in a frozen warehouse...]

The 50 billion won worth of forged department store gift certificates discovered alongside the body of a woman in their 60s inside the frozen warehouse were reportedly ordered by Shin in July after visiting a printing shop, claiming they were needed for a movie shoot.

Police have booked another man, A, on charges related to the forgery of the gift certificates.

On the day of the incident, Man A reportedly picked up the victim in Seoul and dropped her off in Paju, after which the woman boarded the vehicle of cafe owner Shin.

It was also Man A who informed the family that evening that they could not reach the victim.

Police have grasped circumstances indicating that Man A was involved in the production and transaction of the forged gift certificates and are verifying his specific role.

As Shin gave false statements regarding the victim's whereabouts while she was missing, throwing the investigation into confusion, police are examining the credibility of his statements through mobile phone forensics and other investigations.

Amid the spread of the suspect Shin's real name and photo through social media, attention is also gathering on whether the police will disclose his identity.

(Video Shooting: Kim Nam-sung, Video Editing: Choi Hye-ran)

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[Anchor]

Reporter Cho Min-ki, who has been covering this case, is here with us in the studio.

Q. Due to tens of billions of won in "forged gift certificates"?

[Reporter Cho Min-ki: Various circumstances suggest so. The murder suspect, Shin, while running the cafe, was also known to have routinely engaged in gift certificate exchanges, so-called gift certificate cashing. As reported in the previous segment, it was also revealed that Shin had a printing shop print the gift certificates under the pretext of using them for a movie shoot. Furthermore, the reason the man who drove the victim to Paju on the day of the crime was booked is also on charges of counterfeiting securities. According to police missing persons report records, the bereaved family stated that the victim went out to deal with a matter involving a large sum of money, so we need to keep an eye on police investigations to see whether a conflict arose over the forged gift certificates inside the frozen warehouse.]

Q. What questions remain?

[Reporter Cho Min-ki: An autopsy is underway to determine the cause of death—whether the victim had already passed away before being left in the frozen warehouse or whether she died because she was trapped inside. The preliminary opinion of the forensic pathologist is that there are no obvious external injuries. Experts say that generally, being left in a frozen warehouse kept around minus 18 degrees Celsius for just one to two hours can be fatal. The woman entered the frozen warehouse with Shin a little past 11:00 AM on the 3rd and was found dead about 27 hours later, at around 2:30 PM the following day. About 12 hours before she was found, Shin gave a false account of the woman's whereabouts to the police, resulting in her being discovered even later. It was found that Shin induced the victim to leave her mobile phone in his vehicle while leading her into the frozen warehouse, and at the time, he even asked this AI what happens if a person is inside a frozen warehouse. With these facts coming to light, the police investigation to uncover the reality of this case is expected to gain further momentum.]

(Video Editing: Lee Sang-min, Design: Park Chun-woong)