Suspects admit to abandoning the body but deny knowing it was human remains; autopsy and arrest warrants underway
Two men arrested in connection with the abandonment of a body in a residential neighborhood in Guro-gu, Seoul, have admitted to leaving the remains but claim they did not know it was a human corpse.
The Seoul Guro Police Station said Wednesday it had conducted initial suspect interviews with a man in his 60s, identified only as A, who was arrested on charges of abandoning a corpse, and a man in his 80s, identified as B, who faces charges of instigating the abandonment. B is the owner of the multi-unit residential building in Guro-gu where the body was found. A is a former tenant of the building who, even after moving out, reportedly remained close to the landlord.
B told investigators he instructed A to dispose of the object because it appeared to resemble a doll, and that he had no idea it was a human body. A, for his part, acknowledged abandoning the remains but claimed he had suspected it might be a corpse yet carried out B's instructions anyway.
Because the two accounts conflict, police said they plan to verify their credibility through an autopsy and additional investigation.
B stated that he had asked A, who regularly helped him with various tasks, to throw the object away. Whether B specifically designated the disposal site, or whether the two had planned the act in advance, has yet to be determined.
The body was discovered Tuesday around 11 a.m. by a sanitation worker employed by the Guro-gu district office, near a designated waste disposal area in a residential part of Guro-dong, Guro-gu. Police identified the suspects through analysis of nearby closed-circuit television footage and canvassing, and arrested both men separately at their residences around 4 p.m. the same day.
Investigators determined that the body had been abandoned at the site on the afternoon of Thursday. A went to the scene alone, and the remains went unnoticed by residents because no one was passing by at the time. The location is regularly used by residents for waste disposal, and sanitation workers are confirmed to have visited the area after the body was left there. The exact reason the remains went uncollected for five days has not been established. The object containing the body bore no waste disposal markings.
When found, the body showed signs of mummification and was wrapped in plastic and newspaper. An initial examination suggested the deceased was a male between his 50s and 80s, but his exact identity, nationality, time of death and cause of death remain unknown. No obvious signs of foul play were visible on the body.
Police said they plan to determine the cause and time of death through an autopsy requested from the National Forensic Service. They also said they intend to apply for arrest warrants for both suspects Wednesday after completing additional investigation.
newday@heraldcorp.com
