A Claims "The Investigation Was Fabricated, So I Am Innocent"
First Trial: "The Possibility of Another Perpetrator Is Slim"
A (60, then 39 years old), who was sentenced to life imprisonment in court after 20 years on charges of 'murdering the secretary of the Yeongwol Farmers' Association,' appealed the verdict.
According to the legal community and the Yeongwol Branch of the Chuncheon District Court on the 21st, A's lawyer submitted a notice of appeal that day. A was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial. Accordingly, the second round of the truth dispute surrounding the case will unfold in the appellate court. The second trial is expected to be heard by the Chuncheon Division of the Seoul High Court.
Suspect A (59, aged 40 at the time) in the so-called 'Yeongwol Farmers' Association Secretary Murder Case' that occurred 20 years ago in Yeongwol, Gangwon, has had an arrest warrant requested for the first time in 20 years since the incident. On the 28th, before the warrant hearing, A expressed his position to the press at the entrance of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office Yeongwol Branch. Photo by Yonhap News
The Yeongwol Farmers' Association secretary murder case is a representative long-unsolved violent crime. A was arrested and brought to trial last July, 20 years later, on suspicion of stabbing B (then 41 years old), a secretary of an agricultural cooperative corporation, multiple times in the neck and abdomen at the Yeongwol-eup Farmers' Association office on the afternoon of August 9, 2004, causing death.
At the time, the police investigated based on the fact that few people entered and exited the office and there were no signs of resistance, judging it to be the act of someone known to the victim. However, the prime suspect A denied having been at the crime scene and submitted photos of playing in a valley in Yeongwol on the day of the incident as an alibi. Ultimately, unable to find decisive evidence, the police had no choice but to leave this case as a representative long-unsolved violent crime in the Gangwon region.
This case, which was about to remain permanently unsolved, gained new momentum after the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency established a dedicated cold case investigation team and reopened the investigation. In June 2020, the National Forensic Service issued an opinion that the footprints at the crime scene and those of the prime suspect A matched 99.9%. Accordingly, the police transferred A to the prosecution in November of that year.
The prosecution, which took over the case, also brought A to court after a supplementary investigation lasting about 3 years and 7 months. The police and prosecution judged that A planned the crime and created an alibi after hearing from C (mid-30s), who was dating A at the time, that A 'liked' the victim B, the secretary of the agricultural cooperative corporation. During the trial, A claimed, "I was never at the crime scene," and protested, "This is a fabricated investigation, so I am innocent," but the court did not accept this claim.
A, identified as the perpetrator after 20 years, was arrested and indicted on July 17 last year but was released on bail at the end of December due to the expiration of detention. Afterwards, he was tried without detention but was re-arrested in court after being sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial.
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