"Wearing Eye-Catching Clothes and Entering Through the Front Door"
"Professional Burglars Don't Do That"
A detective who created the composite sketch of the suspect in the safe theft case involving the late Goo Hara, former member of the group Kara, speculated that the culprit "may not be a professional burglar."
Jung Chang-gil, a composite sketch specialist detective at the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, appeared on the tvN program 'You Quiz on the Block' on the 17th and explained in detail the process of drawing the composite sketch of the Goo Hara safe thief.
Detective Jung recalled, "At first, it was difficult. It was hard to identify the eyes from the security camera footage, and the suspect was wearing a mask and beanie, making it difficult to distinguish facial features." He added, "I kept watching the footage for two days, trying to find distinguishing features."
Suspect's composite sketch of the late Goo Hara's safe robber (left), restored by SBS 'Unanswered Questions,' and the suspect who broke into Goo Hara's residence on January 14, 2020. [Image source=SBS broadcast capture]
Detective Jung explained that when drawing a composite sketch, it is possible to roughly estimate physical features, age, height, and weight through the camera footage. He said, "Based on the height of the wall and blocks shown in the footage, I estimated the suspect's height to be 175 cm," and added, "Judging by the movement of the joints and the way the suspect climbed over the wall, I estimate the age to be late 20s to early 30s." He speculated that if the suspect were older, the shoulder flexibility needed to climb over the wall would have been reduced.
Detective Jung also raised the possibility that the suspect is not a professional burglar. He pointed out, "When committing the crime, the suspect wore ordinary clothes, not anything unusual," and added, "Interestingly, the suspect wore clothes with noticeable fluorescent elements."
Composite sketch of the suspect in the case drawn by Detective Jeong Chang-gil of the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency [Image source=tvN broadcast capture]
He further emphasized, "Judging by the beanie and such, it seems the clothes were not purchased separately for the crime but were the suspect's own," and said, "Professional burglars don't do that." Regarding the suspect's attempt to approach through the front door, he explained, "Professional burglars usually avoid entering through the front door because there is a high chance of security cameras."
Meanwhile, the safe theft incident occurred around midnight on January 14, 2020, after Goo Hara's death. At that time, someone climbed over the wall of Goo Hara's residence in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, and fled with a personal safe containing the late star's mobile phone. The bereaved family reported the incident to the police after learning about it later, but the suspect was not identified, and the investigation was closed as an unsolved case.
Recently, the case has resurfaced as a topic of discussion after the suspect's composite sketch was revealed on the SBS program 'Unanswered Questions.'
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