Wife of man in double murder case kills herself

The wife of a 29-year-old man charged with killing his mother and brother over money last month hung herself in the couple’s home yesterday, raising suspicions that she was involved in the murders, too.

The wife, identified by her surname Kim, was found hanging from a scarf just inside the front door of her home in Namdong District, Incheon.

Police asked firefighters to break down the front door after Kim, 29, didn’t show up for police questioning at 1:30 p.m. yesterday. Her body was discovered at 1:45 p.m.

Kim’s suicide came two days after the body of Jung Hwa-seok, her brother-in-law, was found in Uljin County, North Gyeongsang, and three days after the corpse of Kim Ae-Suk, her mother-in-law, was found in Jeongseon County, Gangwon.

Kim actually was responsible for giving police the information needed to solve the case.

Her husband, a motorbike courier addicted to gambling at the Kangwon Land Casino in Gangwon, had reported his mother’s disappearance on Aug. 16.

The police came to realize that both the mother and brother disappeared around Aug. 13.

They suspected the brother of being involved because the two missing people’s belongings, including their mobile phones and wallets, were left in the mother’s house, and police couldn’t find a memory card used in the GPS navigation system of a car owned by the brother.

They arrested the suspect on Aug. 22, but released him due to lack of evidence.

But Kim, his wife, told police under questioning where to find the body of the mother in Jeongseon.

Kim told police her husband proposed a romantic trip to North Gyeongsang and Gangwon to repair their failing marriage sometime between Aug. 14 and 15. The couple used the missing brother’s car.

Kim said although she was on the trip in which her husband discarded the corpses of his mother and brother, she had nothing to do with their killings or the disposal of the bodies.

Earlier this week, police discovered Kim was with her husband when he bought rolls of duct tape several days before the murder.

On Wednesday, they changed Kim’s status from witness to possible accomplice. She was questioned by police Wednesday and scheduled for more questioning yesterday.

BY KANG JIN-KYU [jkkang2@joongang.co.kr]