Police officer confesses to killing his mother

By Lee Hyo-sik

A police superintendent arrested on suspicion of killing his mother has confessed to the murder but he insisted that he killed her accidentally, the police said Saturday.

The disgraced 40-year-old police officer, identified only by his surname Lee, claimed he conspired with his mother to only inflict injuries in a bid to file a false insurance claim, according to Dunsan Police Station in Daejeon.

When the superintendent was arrested Friday as a suspect in the Jan. 21 death of his 68-year-old mother in Daejeon, he flatly denied the charge, insisting he had no reason to kill his mother.

But with surveillance video footage of him breaking into his mother’s house on the night of Jan. 21, wearing a motorcycle helmet, as well as other incriminating evidence, Lee confessed to murdering her a day later.

According to the police, he wore a helmet to pose as a burglar to make it appear as if her house was being robbed.

The police said the superintendent reported the death to police on Jan. 22, claiming that he found his mother had been tied up and robbed. Lee also said he stayed with her that night and found her dead at around 6 a.m. An autopsy showed that she died of shock from excessive internal bleeding.

“Lee had first claimed that his mother, an insurance saleswoman, suggested the insurance scam to pay off her 20 million won debts, saying she had three disability insurance policies from 1998, which could pay up to 50 million won. But the son later changed his statement, saying he was the one who came up with the idea,” a police officer at Dunsan Police Station said Sunday. Lee dropped a bowling ball on her back three times to cause injuries while she slept after taking sleeping pills, he said.

The official also said investigators have secured the helmet he wore at the time of committing the crime, and located the places where he bought the bowling ball and the crime scene outfit.

“Lee insists that he had no intention of killing his mother, only to inflict minor injuries to her back to collect the insurance money. He says he didn’t take her to a hospital because he could not immediately figure out what was wrong,” he said.

Investigators plan to continue to look into the case to discover exactly what happened and why Lee killed his mother.

“We cannot take Lee at his word. He may be lying in the hope of a lighter sentence. We will investigate further to secure new evidence,” the officer said. The Daejeon District Court issued an arrest warrant for Lee Sunday afternoon.

경찰간부 모친 살해 패륜범죄 자백

모친 살해혐의로 구속된 피해자의 아들인 경찰간부는 범행을 자백했으나 사고로 모친을 죽였다고 주장했다.

대전 둔산경찰서는 피해자의 아들 이모씨 (40)가 상해보험금을 타기 위해 모친에게 부상을 입히기로 공모를 했다고 주장했다고 밝혔다.

이모씨는 지난 21일 대전에서 발생한 어머니 살해 혐의로 구속돤 후 자신이 어머니를 죽일 이유가 없다며 혐의를 부인했었다.

그러나 하루가 경과한 후 이모씨는 21일 범행당일 어머니의 집에 오토바이 헬멧을 쓰고 침입하는 등의 CCTV 장면이 나오자 어머니를 살해했음을 자백했다.