South Korean police said Friday they had requested a warrant for the formal arrest of a woman in her 40s, accused of murdering her mother the previous day.
The suspect was placed under emergency arrest at around 8:40 a.m. on Thursday at her home in Gangseo-gu district, western Seoul.
She is believed to have killed the victim, who was in her 60s, between 7 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. on Thursday, according to the Seoul Gangseo Police Station.
She called the police at 8:15 a.m., and told them, "I did a bad thing to my stepmother."
It is unclear why the suspect referred to the victim as her stepmother.
At around 8:15 a.m., the suspect's child also called the police and said, "My mom is saying weird stuff, and my grandmother is not picking up the phone."
The child reportedly was told by the suspect that the victim tried to poison her.
Police have yet to find traces of drugs or any other evidence to back this claim.
Officials have yet to identify the motive for the crime, but the testimonies from their neighbors indicate that the suspect had been hostile toward the victim.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com