Prosecutors decline to seek arrest warrant, citing ‘poor health’ ... former partner murdered four months later

[Financial News] A man in his 60s, for whom police had sought an arrest warrant on suspicion of attempting to murder a woman who had been stalked, was arrested about four months later on suspicion of murdering the same woman. It has been confirmed that prosecutors at the time, despite deeming the nature of the suspect’s alleged crime very serious, did not seek an arrest warrant, citing his health and other factors.
According to police on the 5th, Eunpyeong Police Station in Seoul arrested a man in his 60s, identified as A, in the act on suspicion of murder at around 8 a.m. that day at a multi-unit residential building in Bulgwang-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. A woman in her 70s, identified as B and A’s former partner, was found dead at the scene. A was also taken to hospital unconscious.
Earlier, Mapo Police Station in Seoul received a report from B on July 18 and urgently arrested A. On the 20th of the same month, police applied for an arrest warrant on charges including attempted murder. However, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office (now the Seoul Western District Public Prosecutors’ Office) did not seek a warrant at the time. Police later changed the attempted-murder charge to assault and referred A to prosecutors without detention.
The Seoul Western District Public Prosecutors’ Office said that day that although the nature of the suspect’s alleged crime was very serious, he strongly denied the allegations and further investigation was needed into some of the alleged offenses. It added that, taking into account his poor health not long after cancer surgery and other factors, it had decided he should be investigated without detention. The office rebutted reports by some media outlets that the warrant was not sought because “the harm was minor,” saying that was not true.
After prosecutors did not seek a warrant, police applied to the court for temporary measures. As a result, A was held in a detention center from July 23 to August 22 and, after his release, wore an electronic tracking device (ankle monitor) until the 22nd of last month. B was classified by police as a Grade A victim of a relationship-related crime requiring monitoring, but was found dead about two weeks after the ankle-monitoring period ended.
[email protected] Choi Seung-han Reporter