By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter

Wrapping up a nine-day investigation, police said Thursday they will transfer the custody of Kim Kil-tae, the main suspect in the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl, to the prosecution.

"Based on Kim's testimony, DNA test results and other evidence, we will apply for charges of rape and murder to be filed against Kim, and transfer him to the prosecution today," chief investigator Kim Young-sik said during a briefing.

Kim will remain in a Busan prison after being transferred to the prosecution. The prosecution will conduct an investigation to collect additional evidence, if necessary.

For now, police said they have acquired substantial evidence from the girl's home and the site of the murder and other places involved in the case.

"We found Kim's DNA on the girl's body and tissues with DNA from Kim and the victim from a water tank where the body was abandoned," chief investigator Kim said.

"We also found cigarette butts with Kim's DNA on them near the girl's home and one of his sweaters near the water tank."

Police determined that the cause of the girl's death was suffocation and that she died sometime between 7:07 p.m. on Feb. 24 and 5:00 a.m. Feb. 25. The victim was found dead, with indications she had been raped, inside an abandoned water tank just 100 meters from her home.

After hiding the body in a water tank, Kim made a total of 21 phone calls to his friends and acquaintances between 7:58 a.m. and 1:06 p.m. Feb. 25. The suspect has insisted he killed the girl under the influence of alcohol, thus the crime was not premeditated.

Police also confirmed that that it was a policeman who eventually found Kim. "The officer found him while searching the top of a villa on March 10 and apprehended him," Kim said.

During the briefing, the Busan regional police announced a set of measures to enhance monitoring of sexual criminals and to reinforce investigations into missing person reports.

jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr