Murder accomplice caught by a single message

Published : May 31, 2011 - 14:11 Updated : May 31, 2011 - 15:00

A simple text message helped police uncover who the accomplice was in a heated murder case.

The murder case, revealed two weeks ago, involved a university professor who killed his wife and threw her body into the Nakdong river. The body of the wife was discovered on May 21, 50 days after she was reported missing. Kang, her husband and a university professor, admitted to the killing after his arrest and the police investigation.

Kang said that the killing was accidental, but police suspects the murder was committed for economic reasons. Kang had been in the process of a divorce from his wife.

Kang has since been found to have a mistress who apparently took part in the crime. Kang’s mistress was suspected as an accomplice but police were unable to arrest her since she had fled the country. After a weeklong escape, Choi, the mistress, returned to Korea through Incheon Airport on May 27, and was arrested.

Police had found evidence of Choi’s hand in the crime by tracking Kang’s text message sent to Choi, Reuters reported. The message read, “Brace yourself.” Kang had apparently made a visit to the head office of Kakao Talk after the murder asking them to delete the message. However, the message was saved for a month and police were able to retrieve it for investigative evidence.

Kakao Talk is a local messaging service application most popular in Korea.

By Yun Suh-young (syun@heraldcorp.com)

Intern Reporter

Edited by Rob York

<관련한글기사>

인기 모바일 메신저 카카오톡이 최근 대학교수 부인 살해 사건해결에 결정적인 역할을 해 화제가 되고 있다.

26일 경찰에 따르면 대학교수 강모씨(53)는 범행 전 내연녀 최모씨(50)에게 ‘맘 단단히 먹으라’는 내용의 카카오톡 메시지를 보냈고

강씨는 범행 전날 이같은 사실을 숨기기 위해 경기 성남시 분당에 있는 카카오톡 본사를 찾아가 삭제를 요청했다.

카카오톡은 강씨의 요청에 따라 메시지를 삭제했으나, 경찰의 협조 요청으로 다시 복원한 것으로 알려졌다.

이는 외신의 주목을 끌기도 했는데 로이터 통신은 살인사건 해결해주는 폰 앱 (phone app) 이라며 사건의 전말과 카카오톡의 역할을 보도했다.