[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jucheol In] A violent gang member who killed a rival gang member and fled was apprehended by the prosecution after 19 years.
The Criminal Division 2 of the Tongyeong Branch of Changwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Myeonghee) announced on the 8th that suspect A (37), who had been in hiding for 19 years in connection with a murder case, was arrested and indicted.
A, a member of a violent gang in the Tongyeong area, along with seven fellow gang members, attacked a rival gang in July 2002. A and others stabbed two rival gang members with a weapon and brutally beat them with baseball bats, resulting in one death and injuries to another.
During the police investigation, A was not identified as a murder suspect and was classified as a witness.
After completing the witness investigation, he disappeared. The prosecution, after conducting additional investigations targeting witnesses and victims, confirmed that A was an accomplice in the incident at that time.
However, unable to determine his whereabouts, A was suspended from prosecution in October of the same year. A's whereabouts were revealed after the prosecution's continuous investigation into the location of suspended defendants.
In April, during a regular check of suspended defendants, the prosecution confirmed that a mobile phone was activated under A's name, who had been living in hiding. This was the first clue to locating him after 19 years of suspension.
Subsequently, the police tracked the location of the mobile phone's base stations and analyzed call records for three weeks, identifying A's hiding place and successfully arresting him. It is known that A had been moving around various places nationwide during his time on the run to evade investigation.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
