Woman buried alive in neighbor's revenge attack
The accused woman, surnamed Lee, 55, arrives at the Seongnam branch of Suwon District Court for an assessment of the arrest warrant’s validity. / Yonhap
By Rha Hae-sung, Park Si-soo
Police have arrested a mother and her son on suspicion of killing their neighbor by burying her alive. The neighbor had accused the mother of theft.
The mother-son duo is said to have buried the neighbor on their property in Chulwon, Gangwon Province, in July. Police recovered the victim’s body on Wednesday. Investigations into the exact cause of death are continuing.
The two accused have reportedly admitted their wrongdoing.
According to Bundang Police Station, the mother, 55, surnamed Lee, and her son, 25, surnamed Park, killed their neighbor, 49, by burying her alive.
They had been next-door neighbors for 10 years. But their relationship soured when the victim accused Lee of theft in June last year. Lee denied the charge.
In July, Lee laced a cup of coffee with sleeping pills and gave it to the neighbor in her car, police said. After she fell asleep, Lee drove the car with her son to their property and buried her.
Police started an investigation when a friend of the victim reported her missing in August.