'Come here, baby': Victim's final moments captured in police recording as civil servant charged with wife's murder

"Come here, baby, come here" (a woman's voice). "Mommy, mommy" (what sounds like a child crying). "Only crying can be heard." — Excerpts from a police emergency call log recorded at around 7:17 a.m. Tuesday, the moment of the attack.

The contents of an emergency call capturing the moment a civil servant in his 30s, identified only as A, killed his wife during divorce proceedings have been made public. A, who had a history of domestic violence, is now in custody. The recording confirms that the killing took place in front of the couple's young child.

A copy of the call transcript from Tuesday was obtained through the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yun Geon-yeong.

The log, recorded at around 7:17 a.m. Tuesday, contains the following entries: "only crying audible," "what sounds like a male voice," "only crying continues to be heard," "Mommy, mommy (sounds like a child crying)" and "Come here, baby, come here (a woman's voice)."

A is accused of killing his wife, a woman in her 30s identified as B, at around 7:17 a.m. Tuesday on a staircase inside a multi-unit residential building in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. B had moved to an undisclosed address to hide from A while their divorce case was pending. A tracked down her location — which had been disclosed in the divorce filing — and attacked her with a bladed weapon.

Their young child was present at the scene, but A killed his wife without regard. He now faces an additional charge of emotional abuse of a child.

At the time of the attack, B used a police-issued smartwatch to alert authorities. When she called 112 through the device, the call was recorded via the smartwatch's communication function. Officers rushed to the scene and transported her to a hospital, but she died.

B had filed domestic violence reports five times since March last year. In April she visited a police substation in person to seek counseling regarding domestic violence — specifically verbal abuse and threats — and in May she filed a report stating, "I am reporting my husband for verbal abuse."

In July, B visited a substation to request a police escort, saying she was "separated from her husband due to domestic violence and needed to retrieve her belongings." Her final report was filed Tuesday, the day she was killed.

Counseling records from B's visit to Suwon Jangan Police Station in April show that A had subjected her to repeated assault and threats. B told officers that "the previous day she had been slapped," and that during an argument her husband had picked up a knife and threatened her, saying, "Stab me with this knife, or one of us has to die — you or me."

The counseling record shows that officers advised B on how to file a domestic violence case, apply for emergency protective measures and access temporary shelter, but she refused all of it out of fear of retaliation. She told police she had not filed a formal report because she was "afraid her husband would retaliate."

As a minimum protective measure, B was issued a smartwatch on three occasions: April 22 — the day of her counseling session — May 29 and Aug. 11.

A, who was detained Thursday, is believed to have carried out the killing after anticipating an unfavorable outcome in the divorce proceedings, according to the investigation. Police arrested him on an emergency basis about four hours after the incident and applied for an arrest warrant the following day, Wednesday.

As A was being transported to his pretrial detention hearing, he did not respond to reporters' questions, which included: "Why did you kill your wife?"; "Your daughter was watching — did you not think about that?"; "Why did you assault and threaten your wife?"; and "Do you have anything to say to the bereaved family?"