"No Queen Bee in the Hive"…70-Year-Old Beekeeper Arrested for Murder and Secret Burial

Mr. A Urgently Arrested Three Days After Missing Person Report

A man in his 70s was arrested by the police after killing a beekeeper and secretly burying the body because he sold a beehive without a queen bee.

The Jeonbuk Jeongeup Police Station announced on the 31st that they had urgently arrested and were investigating Mr. A (in his 70s) on charges of murder and corpse abandonment.

Mr. A is suspected of killing Mr. B (in his 70s) by repeatedly striking him with a blunt weapon in Mr. B’s shack in Buk-myeon, Jeongeup City, on the morning of the 27th, and then secretly burying the body nearby.

It was understood that Mr. A became angry after judging that Mr. B had sold a beehive without a queen bee, and went to his shack to commit the crime.

During the police investigation, Mr. A reportedly stated, "I bought a beehive about 2 to 3 years ago, but since there was no queen bee, all the bees flew away," and "I came back to get a queen bee and ended up fighting with Mr. B."

This case came to light after Mr. B’s son filed a missing person report with the police on the afternoon of the 28th, saying, "My father, who lives alone in a shack and keeps bees, has not been reachable since yesterday." The police, who began searching, confirmed that the black box of Mr. B’s vehicle parked at the shack had been forcibly removed, and from a delivery driver learned that someone had visited the shack on the 27th, leading them to switch to an investigation on the 29th.

After confirming that Mr. B had been murdered, the police urgently arrested Mr. A three days after the missing person report.

The police believe that Mr. A first went to Mr. B’s shack on the morning of the 27th, argued with him, returned to his home in Jeongeup, then came back to the shack and committed the crime. Mr. A initially denied the crime but confessed to the police after continued questioning. During this process, the police found Mr. B’s body, which Mr. A had abandoned about 30 meters from the shack.

A police official said, "We are examining the specific motive for the crime, including whether Mr. A actually traded beehives 2 to 3 years ago," and added, "We plan to apply for an arrest warrant for Mr. A based on the evidence." He also stated, "Although it was during the Lunar New Year holiday, after receiving the missing person report and conducting a search, we confirmed the likelihood of a crime and mobilized police forces and search dogs to capture the suspect."