Forensic Autopsy Result: 'No Suspicion of Homicide'
Biological Mother and Husband Transferred to Prosecution on Neglect Charges
A biological mother suspected of killing a child born from an affair was cleared of the murder charge. An autopsy revealed that the child was a stillborn baby.
According to the Goesan Police Station in Chungbuk on the 11th, A (31), a Vietnamese migrant woman, gave birth alone to a stillborn baby in the bathroom of her home in Jeungpyeong-eup, Jeungpyeong-gun on January 15, then wrapped the body in cloth and abandoned it in the freezer.
About a month later, around 3 p.m. on February 14, A’s mother-in-law, who was cleaning, found the body in the freezer and informed her son, B (in his 50s). B, startled, buried the body in a nearby vacant lot, but the next day regained composure and went to the police station to surrender.
The police searched the vacant lot and confirmed the buried infant’s body.
During this process, A fled by car. After the body was discovered, the police suspected that the infant might have been killed by A, who had gone into hiding. After tracking her whereabouts, they arrested A around noon the day after she disappeared on a highway in Naju, Jeollanam-do.
A was taken to the Goesan Police Station that evening, but the investigation was slow due to her limited Korean language skills.
In the police investigation, A stated that she was unaware of her pregnancy, suddenly experienced abdominal pain, went to the bathroom, gave birth, and that the baby was not breathing immediately after birth.
B said, "I have not had relations with my wife for years, so the deceased child is not mine," indicating that he was unaware of the deceased infant’s existence.
He also added that A hid the baby in the freezer fearing that her husband, with whom she had long lived separately, would find out about the affair, and that she planned to bury the baby in the mountains and hold a funeral soon.
However, the police suspected that A might have killed and abandoned the infant to hide the fact that she gave birth to a child out of wedlock, and applied for an arrest warrant for her. The warrant was dismissed because A was cooperative with the investigation and there was no risk of flight.
Recently, the police received autopsy results from the National Forensic Service indicating that the deceased infant was estimated to be a fetus between 21 and 25 weeks, with no signs of homicide, and the cause of death was unknown.
Based on these results, the police plan to indict A and B on charges of abandoning a corpse and hand the case over to the prosecution soon.
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