Army officer who killed and mutilated colleague was in relationship with her, police say

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Army officer who killed and mutilated colleague was in relationship with her, police say

Published: 12 Nov. 2024, 18:26

The soldier that killed and mutilated his coworker is moved to Gangwon Provincial Police Agency on Nov. 4 for further investigation. [YONHAP]

The Army officer who murdered and chopped up the body of a female colleague in late October was in a romantic relationship with her, according to police.

“The suspect, who worked in a neighboring department, became romantically involved with the victim while teaching and helping her with work,” the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency said Tuesday.

The 33-year-old victim had been working in the same unit as the 38-year-old officer since July last year, and started dating him at the beginning of this year.

The officer was stationed at the Cyber Operations Command in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. The victim was a civilian contractor working in the same unit as the officer.

The officer choked the victim to death on Oct. 25 after getting into an argument with the victim in his car.

The officer was on his last day of duty before his transfer to a subordinate unit in Songpa District, southern Seoul, which was scheduled for Oct. 28. The victim was also approaching the end of her contract at the end of October.

The Army officer that killed a woman, chopped up the body and dumped it into the Bukhan River, Gangwon, exits the warrant review hearing held at Chuncheon District Court on Nov. 5. [PARK JIN-HO]

The officer was revealed to have a partner and family, while the victim was single.

The officer and the victim argued with each other while carpooling to work on the date of the murder. They were arguing once more in the car at around 3 a.m. the same day, which was when the officer choked her to death.

After killing the victim, the officer chopped the body up at a nearby construction site the same day. He then dumped the parts into the Bukhan River in Hwacheon County, Gangwon the next day.

All of the body parts were found on Nov. 4 after a three-day search that involved 200 police officers, 21 divers, 10 boats, eight search dogs and two drones.

The soldier that killed and mutilated his coworker is being moved to Gangwon Provincial Police Agency on Nov. 4 for further investigations. [YONHAP]

Police arrested the murderer on Nov. 3 without a warrant inside an underpass connected to Ilwon Station in Seoul's Gangnam District, southern Seoul, a day after the first body parts were found on Saturday.

The officer initially testified that the murder was unplanned and that he lost his temper at the time. Digital forensics into the officer’s phone, however, revealed that the killer searched content related to counterfeiting license plates on the internet at 7:35 a.m. the same day, which was after when both the officer and the victim arrived at work.

The forensic into the officer’s phone led the police to suspect that the murder was planned. When pressed by the evidence, the officer testified that he had intent to kill ever since he had done the internet search.

According to the police on Tuesday, the officer was handed over to the prosecution on charges of murder, mutilating and abandoning a corpse. Police will make the officer's personal information available to the public on Wednesday.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]