Suspect Kim Sung-woo carried knife on every visit to estranged wife's family home, police say

Kim transferred to prosecutors Tuesday on charges including retaliatory murder

Police to investigate possible involvement of private investigation agency

Suspect had paring knife in car for most of his 18 surveillance trips

Kim Sung-woo, the suspect in the murder of his mother-in-law and the abduction of his wife in Songpa-gu, is transferred from the Seoul Songpa Police Station to the prosecution on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

New evidence has emerged suggesting that Kim Sung-woo, 26, a social service worker accused of killing his mother-in-law and abducting his wife, planned the crimes in advance. Police confirmed that Kim brought a paring knife with him each time he visited his estranged wife's family home, and that he threatened her with an awl he had brought along during the abduction.

The victim, Kim's mother-in-law, had been going to meet her daughter after work because her daughter had been receiving threats from Kim — and she was killed in the course of doing so, according to police. Investigators said they plan to look into whether a private investigation agency was involved in Kim's crimes.

An official from the Seoul Songpa Police Station briefed reporters at the station Tuesday on the findings of the investigation into the premeditated nature of Kim's crimes.

Police transferred Kim to prosecutors Tuesday morning on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (retaliatory murder and unlawful confinement), aggravated assault, aggravated obstruction of a public official resulting in injury, aggravated destruction of public property, and violations of the Stalking Punishment Act and the Domestic Violence Act.

Immediately after his arrest, Kim claimed the killing was impulsive and that the confinement was merely an attempt to talk, but police concluded that he had planned the crimes with the intent to take revenge for his wife's domestic violence report against him and to coerce her into dropping the charges.

"Kim purchased a paring knife on Sept. 21, about three weeks before the crime, and kept it in his car the entire time," a police official said Tuesday. Kim was found to have loitered near his wife's family home a total of 18 times between Sept. 16 and Oct. 11, and carried the paring knife during most of those visits.

Police also established that Kim had been tracking his wife's movements and lingering nearby. "The suspect gauged his wife's commuting hours and the times she came and went from her family home," a police official said. "On some days he watched from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., and on others from 11 p.m. until 3 in the morning."

During police questioning, Kim claimed he bought the paring knife for self-defense. Police, however, determined based on conversations between Kim and his wife that he had purchased it intending to use it in the crime.

Investigators also found that Kim used an awl during the crime, in addition to the paring knife. "It was confirmed that the suspect had an awl in his hand while abducting his wife and driving to Gangwon Province," a police official said. "Even just holding it would have caused her great fear." Kim told investigators the awl was for cleaning window frames.

Police plan to conduct further questioning of Kim. They have particularly begun looking into whether a private investigation agency was involved in any part of his crimes.

Kim was found to have loitered near his wife's family home 18 times in total between Sept. 16 and Oct. 11, and to have stalked her nine times even during a court-ordered no-contact period that ran from Aug. 22 to Sept. 30.

At around 5:35 a.m. on Oct. 11, Kim went to his wife's family home in Songpa-gu and attempted to drag her away by force. When her mother, who was in her 50s, screamed and tried to stop him, Kim attacked her with a weapon, killing her. He then forced his wife into a vehicle and drove to a mountain in Yangyang-gun, Gangwon Province, where he held her captive. The mother-in-law was transported to a hospital in cardiac arrest and later died.

20ki@heraldcorp.com