Police say suspect stalked wife 18 times after she sought to annul their marriage
Police referred Kim Sung-woo, 26, to the Public Prosecution Service on Tuesday on suspicion of killing his mother-in-law and abducting his wife, police said.
Kim’s name and mugshot were released Monday. He is accused of stabbing his mother-in-law at her home in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul, at around 5:35 a.m. on Oct. 11, as she tried to stop him from forcibly taking his wife.
Kim allegedly forced his wife into his car and drove her to a mountain in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, where he held her against her will.
She suffered facial abrasions after being assaulted in the car but was rescued by police at around 10:30 a.m. that day.
Police traced the car using surveillance footage and coordinated with officers from the Sokcho Police Station. Kim was arrested at around 12:35 p.m. His mother-in-law was taken to a hospital in cardiac arrest and later died.
Kim was referred on suspicion of retaliatory murder and retaliatory confinement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, as well as special assault and violations of the laws on stalking and domestic violence.
He is also accused of special obstruction of official duties resulting in injury after allegedly ramming a patrol car while fleeing, injuring two officers. Police also added a road traffic law violation charge over a separate collision with a parked car.
Stalking wife after separation
Kim and his wife registered their marriage in February and began living apart in August. She filed for divorce mediation in late August, later withdrew the application, and was pursuing a lawsuit to have the marriage annulled.
Police said Kim stalked her 18 times near her parents’ home between Sept. 16 and Oct. 11. Nine of those incidents took place while a court-ordered interim measure barring him from approaching her was in effect.
Investigators suspect Kim acted in retaliation for his wife’s domestic violence report and her effort to annul the marriage, and may have tried to pressure her into dropping the case.
Police said he had monitored the area around her parents’ home, bought a knife nearby on Sept. 21 and asked to postpone a police interview scheduled for Oct. 10.
They are investigating the case as a planned attack, citing those circumstances and evidence that he waited near the scene with a knife for about four hours.
Kim has told police the killing was unplanned and that he took and detained his wife because he wanted to talk with her.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com