Among the three suspects in the murder of a Korean national in Pattaya, Thailand, the first to be apprehended, a man in his 20s identified as A, appeared at the warrant review held at the Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam on the 15th.
When asked by reporters about his motive and the whereabouts of the other accomplices, A replied, "I didn't kill him."
He also repeatedly said, "I don't know anything," while on the verge of tears.
One of the suspects in the Korean murder case in Pattaya, Thailand, who was the first to be apprehended, is heading to the courtroom of Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam for a warrant hearing. Photo by Lee Seryoung
A is a suspect in the abduction and murder of a Korean man in his 30s in Pattaya, Thailand, and the abandonment of the body. He was urgently arrested by police at a residence in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk, at around 7:46 p.m. on the 12th.
It is reported that he was with his accomplices but continues to insist that he did not directly participate in the act of murder.
Police identified and pursued three Korean suspects?A, B, and C?in connection with the case in which the body of a Korean man, with all his fingers severed, was found in a black plastic container retrieved from a reservoir in Pattaya, Thailand, on the 11th local time.
Previously, it was determined that the group transported a man identified as D by car to Pattaya at around 2 a.m. on the 3rd, switched to another truck, and rented accommodation near the reservoir.
It was also confirmed that they handled a black plastic container and rope, and that around 9 p.m. the next day, they loaded a black object onto the truck, left the accommodation, parked near the reservoir for about an hour, and then returned.
One of the suspects in the Korean murder case in Pattaya, Thailand, who was the first to be apprehended, is being led by the police on foot for a warrant hearing. [Photo by Lee Seryoung]
Police are investigating the motive for the crime based on the fact that, on the 7th, the group called the deceased man's mother and threatened, "Your son caused a loss by discarding drugs; if you do not pay 3 million baht (about 112 million won), we will kill your son."
For B, a man in his 20s apprehended at a lodging in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, at around 12:10 a.m. on the 14th, authorities are considering extradition to Korea in cooperation with local police, while D, who is still at large, is being pursued in coordination with local authorities.
The South Bangkok Criminal Court in Thailand issued arrest warrants for the group on charges of murder and abandonment of a corpse on the 14th.
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