'Sindang Station Stalking Murder' Station Worker Jeon Mo Detained… Court Cites "Risk of Evidence Tampering and Escape"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Jeon Mo (31), the suspect in the 'stalking murder' case that occurred at Sindang Station on Seoul Subway Line 2, has been detained.

At around 8:40 p.m. on the 16th, Judge Kim Seyong, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued an arrest warrant for Jeon, an employee of Seoul Metro, who was charged with murdering a female colleague in her 20s at the women's restroom in Sindang Station, citing "risk of evidence tampering and flight."

Earlier, Jeon arrived at the Seoul Central District Court at around 2:06 p.m. wearing a sky-blue top, black shorts, slippers, and with a bandage wrapped around his left hand. The warrant hearing, which began at 3 p.m., ended in about 27 minutes.

Upon entering the courtroom, he did not respond at all to the flood of questions from reporters such as "Do you have anything to say to the victim and her family?", "Why did you commit the crime?", and "Did you plan the crime?"

After the warrant hearing, when leaving the courtroom, he responded "I'm sorry" to reporters' questions asking if he had anything to say to the victim. When asked "What was your motive? Do you have anything to say besides apologizing to the victim?" he briefly replied, "Yes, I am truly sorry." He did not answer other questions such as "Why were you wearing a shower cap at the time of the crime?", "How did you know the victim's workplace?", "When did you start planning?", and "Is there a reason you committed the crime the day before the first trial verdict?"

Jeon was arrested on the evening of the 14th at around 9 p.m. at Sindang Station for stalking and then killing a female colleague he had been stalking with a weapon. The victim was taken to the hospital but ultimately died.

The Seoul Western Police Station applied charges against Jeon for violating the Information and Communications Network Act for over 350 messages sent from November 2019 to October last year before the Stalking Punishment Act was enforced, requesting to meet. For about 20 messages sent from November last year to February this year, which included coercion to settle, they applied charges under the Stalking Punishment Act and transferred Jeon to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office in March this year. The police are currently reviewing whether to disclose Jeon's identity.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Western District Court dismissed the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant against Jeon last October on charges of violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, stating that "he has a fixed residence and there is no risk of evidence tampering or flight."