The slain bride-to-be, the surviving groom… Grievance resolved: "So that no more victims are left behind" [Brave Detectives 5]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

From an arson-murder case rooted in delusions to the full story of a crime that spiraled out of control, baffling crimes sparked outrage.

In Episode 25 of "Brave Detectives 5," broadcast on T-Cast E Channel on the 16th, forensic examiner Kim Ui-ju, detective Shin Soon-beom, researcher Seo Yeong-il, and former detective Park Mi-ok appeared to reveal the full details of the cases and their relentless pursuit.

The first case introduced that day began with an explosion and fire at a building near a police station in 2015. A man suffering from burns told firefighters that someone had set a fire inside the building, and one charred body was found in the building's office. The victim was the 70th-year-old father of the man who had reported to the firefighters, and he was the representative of an international marriage information agency.

The victim's son identified a customer who had visited the company several times as the arsonist. He stated that an explosion was heard immediately after the customer met with his father in the office, and that fire broke out on his father's body. The suspect was confirmed to have arrived at the time holding a box of beverages in one hand and a red plastic container in the other.

The perpetrator, Mr. Kim (pseudonym), had held a wedding ceremony in Vietnam seven months before the incident with a Vietnamese woman 30 years his junior, through the marriage information agency operated by the victim. However, his wife repeatedly failed the exam required to obtain an entry visa, and Mr. Kim protested to the victim, claiming that the marriage costs were overcharged. They had subsequently agreed on a refund of 3 million won and to proceed with the entry procedures. In response, Ahn Jung-hwan was taken aback, saying, "Are you blaming the victim? It's too outrageous," and Dean also said, "The motive is hard to accept."

On the day of the crime, Mr. Kim parked his truck about 400 meters from the building and meticulously prepared for the act, even turning off his Daejeon rest before entering the building. He later disappeared, leaving behind his disabled son in his 20s. It is known that Mr. Kim, who had been raising his son alone while selling hotteok (Korean pancakes) at a market, divorced his ex-wife due to jealousy.

The investigation team launched a public wanted notice and secured a tip reporting that Mr. Kim had been spotted at the market. Although Mr. Kim had already left by taxi, they were able to identify the driver based on the taxi model and the last digits of the license plate. Eventually, detectives arrested Mr. Kim, who was hiding in a large temple.

Mr. Kim claimed that he believed the victim was having an affair with his bride, and that he had intended to give her a gift if she left his wife alone, but would set fire to the place otherwise. However, Mr. Kim's wife denied any suspicion of an affair, stating that she was present whenever she met the victim. Mr. Kim was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In the segment "Unfinished Case Q," which focused on the theme "How far will you expand the board?", crimes that had expanded uncontrollably were examined. In 2014, a woman in her 20s was found dead at a pension (guesthouse). The victim had stayed with her boyfriend for five days, and it was confirmed that only the boyfriend went out alone on the scheduled checkout day. Thirteen hours after the report, the boyfriend called the police and asked them to come to the motel where he was staying to arrest him. He claimed that his girlfriend had asked him to kill her, and that they had received approval from both sets of parents ahead of their marriage.

In reality, the boyfriend was an unemployed man who had lied about running a casino business and owning a building worth 13 billion won in Gangnam. He claimed that although his girlfriend continued to see him even after learning of his lies, he decided to die with her because everything would be exposed two days before their first meeting with each other's parents. The couple had only known each other for two months, and the boyfriend also had a prior record of fraud.

Former detective Park Mi-ok also introduced a case in which three family members were murdered in an attempt to prevent the crime from being exposed. In 2006, a report was received that a middle school girl niece, her mother living at a nearby maternal home, and another elementary school student niece had been found dead with stab wounds in a residential area. The perpetrator was the younger brother of the reporter, who had been sued on charges of sexually assaulting a female student attending the same elementary school as his son. The deceased middle school girl was also a victim of his sexual assault, and it was revealed that the perpetrator had killed her father, his older brother, 10 years prior.

Two weeks before the incident, the victims of sexual assault confided in the reporter about the abuse, and when the reporter pressed him, the perpetrator said that he saw young children as women, sparking anger. The arrested perpetrator claimed that he committed the murders out of fear that his mother and son would learn of the crime if he were investigated for the lawsuit, and that he would be sent to prison. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Researcher Seo Yeong-il introduced a case where scientific investigation revealed the truth of the incident. In 2015, a young woman was found dead from stab wounds in a house, and another man was also found dead from stab wounds in a different room. Another man who survived at the scene was the groom-to-be who was about to marry the deceased woman. The groom-to-be testified that he had been sleeping when he heard his bride-to-be's scream, rushed over, and witnessed an unfamiliar man swinging a weapon. He then stated that he engaged in a physical struggle with the man, wrestled the weapon away and swung it, and escaped through the opening created by the opponent's injuries to seek help.

However, the man identified as having committed the crime was already dead, leaving only the groom-to-be's testimony. Some suspected the groom-to-be. The investigation revealed that the deceased man had been on leave from military service, had been heavily intoxicated after drinking alcohol, and had previously attempted to enter another house without permission before being driven away.

Analysis of scene evidence showed that only the DNA of the groom-to-be and the intruder was detected in the room where the bride-to-be was found, and the intruder's DNA was also confirmed under the bride-to-be's fingernails. In contrast, the groom-to-be's DNA was not detected, and bloodstain analysis results matched his testimony. Eventually, after two years, the groom-to-be's claim of self-defense was recognized, which was introduced as a case where law enforcement authorities recognized self-defense in a murder charge for the first time in 25 years since 1990.

Former detective Park Mi-ok said, "In similar cases, the most heartbreaking thing I heard was that it was too difficult to prove innocence without even having time to grieve. I wonder how shocking and grievous it must have been for the groom-to-be who was suspected for two years." She added, "This case is a very important issue where scientific investigation had to reveal not only who the perpetrator was, but what happened in the final moments."

Profiler Kwon Il-yong also stated, "It is not wrong to present various possibilities and have doubts. What must not be missed is finding the truth so that there are no unjust victims."

Meanwhile, "Brave Detectives 5" airs every Friday at 9:50 p.m.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original