'Teenage sexual assault victim killed': Man in his 50s surnamed Jin refuses to make a statement... Signs of theft and gaslighting by suspect’s family emerge

[Financial News] A man in his 50s who was arrested on suspicion of killing a teenage girl who was the victim in a sex-crime case involving his son is refusing to make a statement during police questioning. Meanwhile, evidence has emerged that the suspect’s family gaslighted the victim and involved her in crimes including theft, causing a stir.
On the 11th, Seongbuk Police Station in Seoul announced that it had urgently arrested a 59-year-old man identified only by the surname Jin on suspicion of killing 15-year-old A at a shared lodging facility in Jeongneung-dong, Seongbuk District, at around 1:40 a.m. that day. Police said they were unable to properly question Jin when he was arrested because he was heavily intoxicated, and that he has continued to refuse to make a statement since questioning resumed. Near the scene, investigators found a weapon believed to have been used in the crime, A’s cellphone, three empty soju bottles and a document resembling a suicide note.

The case appears to involve a complex ‘chain of crimes’ entangling the suspect’s entire family, going beyond a simple murder. A police investigation found that B, in her mid-20s and the common-law partner of Jin, the murder suspect; Jin’s son, 20; and A, the victim who was killed, had all been under investigation on suspicion of theft, receiving stolen property and fraud, among other offenses.
Police are investigating the possibility that Jin’s son and B gaslighted A, who frequently ran away from home, kept her under their control and involved her in thefts using so-called ‘paid dates’ as bait.
In a separate case, Jin’s son was sentenced in the first trial last month to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for stealing valuables while men he had met through a chat app and who had paid for sex were showering. He is currently being held at the Seoul Southern Detention Center in connection with another theft case. The shared lodging facility where the killing took place was reportedly arranged by B, the common-law partner of Jin’s father.

A sex-crime case lies at the root of this tragedy. In January, A’s parents filed a police complaint alleging that “Jin’s son had sexual relations with their minor daughter,” accusing him of statutory rape of a minor. In March, police forwarded the case against Jin’s son to prosecutors without detention; it is now under investigation by the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office. A was reportedly said to have denied being victimized at the time, raising questions about whether this, too, resulted from coaxing or gaslighting by the suspect’s side.
Police are closely investigating whether Jin, the father, killed A in revenge because he resented his son being accused of a sex crime. If the killing is found to have been revenge, the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes applies, carrying severe penalties of death, life imprisonment or imprisonment for 10 years or more.
Police plan to establish whether the crime was premeditated by analyzing seized evidence and tracing movements on closed-circuit television (CCTV), among other measures, and intend to seek an arrest warrant for Jin soon.
[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter