"'Eunpyeong ex-partner killing': Man in his 60s sent to prosecution in custody; charge changed to retaliatory murder"

Crime committed at an Eunpyeong residence two weeks after ankle monitoring ended
Visited her home and workplace 17 times in the 13 days before the crime
Charge changed from murder to retaliatory murder under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes

A man in his 60s accused of killing his former partner in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, has been transferred to the prosecution in custody.

The Eunpyeong Police Station in Seoul said on November 13 that it had transferred the man, identified only as A, in custody on charges including retaliatory murder under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

A man in his 60s suspected of murdering a woman in her 70s who was his former partner appeared at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 7th for a hearing to review his arrest warrant. Yonhap News

According to police, A is accused of luring his former partner, a woman in her 70s, to his home at around 12:02 p.m. on November 4 and killing her with a blunt object. He is also accused of damaging one of B's mobile phones during the attack.

Police found that A planned the crime out of resentment after B's stalking report led to an investigation and trial against him.

A said he had acted impulsively during an argument, but police concluded that the killing was premeditated. They took into account that A had prepared the weapon in advance and lured the victim to his home with the intention of killing her. Accordingly, police changed the charge from murder, which had been applied early in the investigation, to retaliatory murder under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

Victim made four reports; arrest warrant not sought due to health concerns

Previously, B reported A's stalking to the Eunpyeong, Namdaemun and Mapo police stations in Seoul a total of four times between September 2024 and July 2026. In particular, on July 20, police sought an arrest warrant for A on charges including violating the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes, but the prosecutor did not request one. Reports said this was because A had Stage 4 lung cancer and was in poor health immediately after surgery.

Under a court order for temporary measures, A was held in a detention center for one month starting July 23. After his release on August 23, he was fitted with an electronic tracking device, commonly known as an ankle monitor. The monitoring period ended on October 22.

Police classified B as a high-risk victim of stalking and checked on her safety 27 times before the incident. They also recommended additional protective measures ahead of A's release from the detention center and the end of his ankle-monitoring period, but reports said B indicated that she did not want them.

Stalking resumed the day after ankle monitoring ended

However, investigators found that A continued stalking B from October 23, the day after his ankle monitoring ended, through November 4, visiting her home and workplace a total of 17 times against her wishes. Police confirmed this by tracing CCTV footage and added a charge of violating the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes.

The incident occurred about two weeks after the location-tracking measure using an electronic device had ended.

At around 6:40 a.m. on November 5, police received a missing-person report from B's son and found B dead at A's home while searching for her. A, who was at the scene, was arrested in the act. A was also found unconscious at the time of his arrest and received medical treatment at a hospital before police began questioning him on November 6.

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