A suspect in his 60s killed his former partner in Eunpyeong-gu on Thursday morning

Suspect had stalked the victim at her home in July, prompting a smartwatch emergency call

Police sought an arrest warrant in July, but prosecutors declined to request one

File photo unrelated to this article. [Getty Images Bank]
File photo unrelated to this article. [Getty Images Bank]

A woman in her 70s killed in Seoul's Eunpyeong-gu on Thursday had been stalked by the same suspect roughly four months earlier and made an emergency call to police using a smartwatch. At the time, police sought to detain the suspect, but prosecutors declined to request an arrest warrant.

According to police, officers from the Eunpyeong Police Station arrested a suspect identified only as A, 65, on Thursday morning on charges of killing a woman in her 70s — a former live-in partner — inside a multi-unit residential building in Eunpyeong-gu.

Police received a missing-persons report from the victim's family at around 6:40 a.m. Thursday and traced the suspect's residence using the victim's mobile phone location data and past incident records. Officers who responded to the scene found the woman dead inside the building. The suspect was also found unconscious and was taken to a hospital.

It was also confirmed through Herald reporting that the victim had filed an emergency report with police on July 18 at around 10:40 p.m. after being stalked by A at her home in the Ahyeon-dong residential area of Mapo-gu, Seoul. A had been loitering outside her home and demanding to meet her.

As the two struggled, the victim's smartwatch activated. Police received audio of the woman screaming "Help me," along with the suspect's voice and sounds of a confrontation. Officers immediately issued a Code 0 — the highest emergency alert level — and rushed to the scene, where they restrained A.

The Mapo Police Station applied for an arrest warrant against A two days later, on July 20, on charges including violation of the Stalking Punishment Act. The prosecutor returned the application without requesting one.

Police had first issued the victim a smartwatch in mid-June, at a time when she was already facing physical threats from A.

Unable to secure an arrest warrant, police applied for provisional measures against A, including detention at a remand facility and electronic monitoring. A was held at the facility from around July 23 to Aug. 22, after which an electronic ankle bracelet was fitted. The monitoring period expired on Oct. 22.

Police are reviewing CCTV footage and conducting forensic analysis at the scene to establish A's movements and the timeframe of the crime. They also plan to determine why the victim was killed at the suspect's residence in Eunpyeong rather than at her own home.


kido@heraldcorp.com