A man in his 70s arrested for killing his estranged wife in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, carried out the attack even after courts had imposed stalking restrictions barring him from contacting or approaching her.
According to the North Jeolla Provincial Police Agency and the Jeonju Deokjin Police Station, the suspect, identified only as A, was arrested on emergency charges of murder on Wednesday. At the time of the killing, he was already subject to all three levels of court-ordered stalking provisional measures against his wife, identified as B, a woman in her 60s.
The first level constitutes a written warning; the second prohibits the subject from approaching within 100 meters of the victim and her family; and the third bans all contact, including phone calls and text messages.
A had sent B dozens of resentful text messages the previous month while the two were living apart, and police classified the conduct as repeated and persistent stalking before seeking the provisional measures.
Before that, B had reported A to police roughly seven times.
The first report came in April, when the couple began living separately — B reported A for alleged theft after he entered her home and attempted to take belongings. In May, she filed two more reports, saying A had threatened her and had come to her home and broken down the front door. Police responded by issuing a temporary restraining order under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Domestic Violence.
Despite those measures, A showed up at B's home again in July, prompting another report. B filed three additional reports afterward, saying she was afraid of A and that he had been contacting her acquaintances.
Police considered issuing B a smart watch — a personal safety device — at the time, but she declined.
As B's reports accumulated, police classified A as high-risk and stepped up monitoring of her safety, calling her once a week — on Sept. 29, Oct. 6 and Tuesday — to check on her.
A call placed at around 5:43 p.m. Tuesday, believed to be shortly after B's death, went unanswered. Police said closed-circuit television footage from B's apartment building showing A entering the premises led them to conclude she was killed around that time.
After the killing, A wrote in red letters on a wall inside the apartment: "Couples make up within a week of a fight — the police incited this murder." He then drove through parts of North Jeolla and South Chungcheong provinces.
Police were dispatched Wednesday after receiving a report of bloodstains near the entrance of the apartment building, where they found B dead from stab wounds. After a manhunt, officers arrested A inside his car in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province.
A had ingested poison before his arrest and is currently receiving treatment at a general hospital in North Jeolla Province.
Police said they plan to seek an arrest warrant after investigating the full circumstances of the case, including whether the killing was premeditated.
betterj@heraldcorp.com
