Cho Jae-bok, accused of killing and abandoning the body of his mother-in-law. [Daegu Police Agency]
Cho Jae-bok, accused of killing and abandoning the body of his mother-in-law. [Daegu Police Agency]

The wife of the defendant in the "Daegu carrier body case" testified at trial Wednesday that her husband had beaten her mother "thousands of times."

The Daegu District Court's Criminal Division 13, presided over by Chief Judge Chae Hui-in, held a hearing in the case of Cho Jae-bok, 26, indicted on charges of killing a blood relative and abandoning a corpse.

Cho's wife, identified only by her surname Choi, 26, appeared as a witness. Her father and representatives from women's and disability rights organizations were also present in a support capacity.

During questioning, Choi referred to Cho not as her "husband" but as "that man," and testified that he had committed serious domestic violence beginning immediately after their marriage.

"He started using violence and abusive language right after we registered our marriage," Choi said. "When we lived in Gyeongsan, he only hit me and not my mother, but after we moved to Daegu he started assaulting her too."

She said the beatings were triggered by everyday matters — not cleaning properly, spilling food — and that Cho had threatened to kill them if they did not bring him money. He monitored them through a home security camera to prevent them from escaping, she added.

Choi testified that on March 18, the day her mother died, a prolonged assault had begun the previous day. "He beat her far longer and harder than usual — thousands of times," she said. "My mother's condition deteriorated to the point where she could not walk on her own or speak properly." Cho then dragged her mother into the bathroom and continued the assault, after which her mother lost consciousness, Choi said. "I was so worried that I checked whether she was still breathing, but he did not call for help because he was afraid someone at the hospital would ask who had done it," she said.

When the presiding judge asked to confirm — "Are you saying he struck her thousands of times with the force of an adult male hitting someone hard?" — Choi replied, "Yes. He really hit her with full force."

"I hope that man gets life in prison, and I want to get a divorce as soon as possible," Choi said.

Prosecutors submitted additional evidence showing that Cho had used bank accounts held in the names of Choi and her mother, and had taken out loans and opened mobile phone accounts in their names. "The defendant pressured his mother-in-law to borrow money from acquaintances," a prosecutor said. "The motive for the crime is connected to financial reasons."

Cho denied the allegations, saying he had used the bank accounts with permission and that the phone registered in his mother-in-law's name had been opened at her suggestion, with him covering the costs.

Cho is accused of beating his mother-in-law — identified only as a woman who was 54 at the time of her death — for an extended period at a studio officetel in Jung-gu, Daegu, in March, causing her death. He then placed her body in a suitcase and abandoned it near the Sincheon stream in Buk-gu's Chilseong-dong. He also faces charges including aggravated unlawful confinement causing injury, stemming from allegations that he assaulted, surveilled and financially controlled both his wife and mother-in-law. His mother-in-law had been living with the couple in their cramped studio to protect her daughter from Cho's violence, according to sources.

Cho reportedly married another woman in 2021 but divorced after committing domestic violence.


paq@heraldcorp.com