Man in His 50s Detained in 'Naju Couple in Their 60s Tied Up and Murdered' Case... Identity Disclosure Under Review

Court: "There is a risk he may flee."

A man in his 50s who tied up and brutally murdered a couple in their 60s whom he knew, after scouting the area around their home, and then fled with their cash has been detained.

A, in his 50s, who was arrested on suspicion of murdering a couple in their 60s whom he had known, leaves the courtroom after a pretrial detention hearing at the Gwangju District Court on the afternoon of the 9th. Yonhap News Agency

Gwangju District Court said on October 10 that it had issued an arrest warrant for Suspect A the previous day, after police requested one over concerns that he might flee.

After holding a hearing on the arrest warrant for Suspect A the previous day, Gwangju District Court issued the warrant, citing “concerns that he may flee.”

As A appeared in court, he did not respond to the barrage of questions from reporters, including, “Was the crime premeditated?”, “Do you admit to the charges?”, “Did you commit the crime for money?” and “Why did you kill the wife?” Wearing a hat and mask to cover his face, A kept his head down and remained silent until he boarded the transport vehicle after the hearing.

A is suspected of breaking into a detached house in Wangok-myeon, Naju-si, South Jeolla Province, between 9:28 p.m. and 11:57 p.m. on October 5 and murdering B, a man in his 60s, and his wife.

A allegedly tied the couple’s hands and feet with duct tape and clothing inside the house, then fatally stabbed B with a weapon and strangled his wife. The couple were found dead in the living room and master bedroom, respectively, on the afternoon of October 6.

A, who had met B at an arcade, allegedly stole the couple’s cash card and fled immediately after the crime, then withdrew about 6 million won from their account, according to investigators.

A’s escape route was also carefully planned. Shortly before the crime, he entered the village wearing a hat and mask and riding a bicycle. After the crime, he loaded the bicycle into the victim’s 1-ton truck and drove away. He then abandoned the truck and bicycle one after the other along a road near Juksanbo in Naju, switched to his own car, and tried to evade police pursuit.

After tracking him through CCTV footage, police arrested A at the entrance to an apartment complex in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, at around 2:37 p.m. on October 7.

In particular, while analyzing security camera footage, police found evidence that A had repeatedly visited the area around the couple’s home before the crime to scout it. Based on these repeated visits and evidence that he withdrew money using the couple’s cash card, police concluded that the intent to kill and the premeditated nature of the crime were clear. They therefore changed the charge from murder to the more serious charge of robbery-murder and sought an arrest warrant.

In questioning, A told police, “I went to collect money I had lent the victim’s husband.” He also claimed that he “used a weapon that was inside the house.”

However, no weapon was found at the crime scene or in the victims’ truck. Based on A’s statement that he “threw the weapon into the Yeongsan River near Naju Bridge while fleeing,” police are continuing to search the area while closely investigating whether he had prepared the weapon in advance and whether the alleged debt actually existed.

Police said they would consider convening a committee to decide whether to publicly disclose A’s personal information, given the brutality of the crime.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.