Army officer awaiting promotion admits killing wife, dismembering body

The man suspected of killing a woman and dismembering her body before throwing it into a river turned out to be an army officer soon to be promoted.

Police arrested the killer, in his late 30s, without a warrant on Sunday in an underpass connected to Ilwon Station in Seoul's Gangnam District, southern Seoul, a day after body parts were found floating in the Bukhan River in Hwacheon County, Gangwon. The man immediately admitted the murder charge after his arrest.

According to the Gangwon Provincial Police Department on Monday, investigations revealed that the killer was an officer stationed at the Cyber ​​Operations Command in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. He was expected to be promoted to lieutenant colonel.

The victim was a 33-year-old civilian employee who worked in the same unit as the officer.

“The two persons worked in the same office and were close to each other, but a recent conflict is believed to have led to the crime,” a police official said. “We will uncover the exact motive through further investigation.”

The Buchan River [YONHAP]

The officer strangled the victim in his car in a parking lot on the cyber task force premises around 3 p.m. on October 25 after he lost his temper during an argument.

The killer then hid the body under some clothes and resumed his post until 9 p.m. the same day, when he took the body to a nearby construction site and dismembered it. The tool used to dismember the body had not been identified until Monday, and the walls and floor of the site were destroyed when police arrested the officer.

After packing the body parts into separate plastic bags, the officer threw them into the Bukhan River after driving to Hwacheon county, where he was stationed about a decade ago. Stones were placed in the bags to prevent them from floating to the surface.

An army officer who allegedly killed and maimed his colleague will be transferred to the Gangwon Provincial Police Department for further investigation on Monday. [YONHAP]

The officer was transferred to a lower-level department in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on October 28. According to local media reports, he showed up for work after the crime and showed no signs of remorse.

Police managed to identify the killer by searching the victim's phone records and conducting a forensic examination of the body parts, uncovering DNA evidence. Police also found fingerprints on the tape used to seal the plastic bags.

All body parts were found on Monday after a three-day search involving 200 police officers, 21 divers, 10 boats, eight search dogs and two drones.

As part of further investigations, the police plan to apply for an arrest warrant against the killer on charges of murder, mutilation and concealment of a corpse. It will also conduct a forensic examination of the officer's phone to determine whether the crime was pre-planned.

Police are also considering making the officer's personal information available to the public.

BY KIM MIN YOUNG [[email protected]]