Son Reported Missing Found as Skeleton in Small Room After 4 Years... 70s Father Declared 'Not Guilty'

Father Claims "Didn't Know Son Died Because He Didn't Enter the Room"
Admits Testimony "Trash Was Piled Up, There Was Originally a Bad Smell"

The son who was reported missing 4 years ago was belatedly found in a skeletonized state at home, and the prosecution indicted the father in his 70s on charges of abandoning a corpse. However, the court acquitted him, stating that there was a possibility that the body was not discovered immediately.

On the 27th, News1 reported that the Busan District Court Criminal Division 4 (Presiding Judge Jang Byeong-jun) acquitted Mr. A, in his 70s, who was indicted on charges of abandoning a corpse. Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of leaving the body of his son, Mr. B, in his 30s, who was found dead in a room of his house in Dong-gu, Busan, in April 2019, unattended for over four years.

Busan District Court

The body of Mr. B was found in May of last year. At that time, an acquaintance who visited Mr. A’s house accidentally discovered Mr. B in a skeletonized state. The National Forensic Service investigated the cause of death of Mr. B and found that the cause was unclear, but there were no signs of homicide. Additionally, the estimated time of death was April 2019, four years prior. Based on this, the prosecution judged that Mr. A knew of Mr. B’s death but abandoned the body and indicted him. They considered that as Mr. B’s father, Mr. A had the obligation to report his son’s death to the authorities or conduct a funeral, but he neglected the corpse.

However, Mr. A claimed that when contact with Mr. B, with whom he had no regular communication, was lost, he filed a missing person report around July 2019 and that he did not know Mr. B’s body was in his house. The prosecution doubted Mr. A’s testimony that he did not notice the foul odor until Mr. B’s body decomposed into a skeleton. However, Mr. A’s younger brother and acquaintances, who had visited Mr. A’s house several times, also testified in unison that they did not know there was a corpse in the house.

They stated in court, “There was a pile of garbage and waste in Mr. A’s house, so we did not see the corpse,” and “We never smelled the odor of decomposition.” They also said that Mr. A’s house, located in a redevelopment area, was severely aged and cluttered with waste and garbage in a disorganized state, so there was already a foul smell. The small room where Mr. B’s body was found was the same.

The court explained the reason for acquittal, saying, “Mr. A claims that he did not know of Mr. B’s death because he did not enter the small room where Mr. B’s body was found, and considering the condition of the house, there is sufficient possibility that the body was not immediately discovered. Although the cause of Mr. B’s death is unclear, there are no signs of homicide, and from the perspective of Mr. A, the father, it is difficult to see any special reason to abandon his son’s body after discovering it.” The prosecution appealed the first trial verdict.